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FOR 

UNCLE SAM 

CAROLYN SHIRW1N BAILEY 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 




Copyright, Leslie's Weekly, New York 

"I WANT YOU" 



WHAT TO DO FOR 
UNCLE SAM 

A First Book of Citizenship 



BY 

CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY 

Author of 
"Boys and Girls of Colonial Days," 
"For the Children's Hour," "Stories 
Children Need," and Other Stories 



ILLUSTRATED 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 

CHICAGO 



1 



COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 




MAY 31 1918 



A499196 



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INTRODUCTION 

The United States Bureau of Education lays 
emphasis upon the part of the schools in training 
for citizenship. It urges a new teaching of the 
subject, beginning with the home, going on to the 
school, and from there into community relations. 
The Government asks, also, that work in civics 
be begun in the elementary schools. The work 
should embody less of the details of governmental 
agencies, but focus instead upon the child's own 
community obligations and activities. 

Following this thought, and taking up the pro- 
gram of community civics outlined by the Bureau 
of Education, I have written "What to Do for 
Uncle Sam," a first book in patriotism and citizen- 
ship. At the end of each chapter I have placed 
questions and suggestions which establish a contact 
between the classroom and community life. 

The book lays emphasis on the home and the 
local community. The child may find many illus- 
trations of the subjects in his own environment. 
There are many suggestions for handwork, excur- 
sions, and social service that establish habits of good 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

citizenship. Community civics, social service, and 
devotion to our country are all combined in a prac- 
tical way. 

The subjects are those recommended by the Gov- 
ernment ancl leading educators for the first teaching 
of the principles of democracy. They include : 
health, economy, conservation, civic beauty, commu- 
nication, wealth, transportation, charities, educa- 
tion, life saving, and Junior service through Boy 
Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and the Junior Eed Cross. 

"What to Do for Uncle Sam" is a pioneer book 
in the field of patriotic teaching. Instead of being 
informational to the point of inhibiting constructive 
thought, it gives children a chance to translate 
national ideals into everyday civic service. It helps 
boys and girls to live community civics in the home, 
the school, and the town. 

Caeolyn Shekwin Bailey. 



CONTENTS 

chaptee page 

Introduction 7 

I Who is Our Uncle Sam? 15 

II When He Sits Behind the Teacher's 

Desk 19 

III Harvesting Boys and Girls Can Do. . 28 

IV Helping to Save for Him 37 

V Keeping Well 46 

VI Saving the Wild Fowl and Birds .... 56 

VII Being Kind to His Animals 63 

VIII Keeping His Holidays 71 

IX Helping His Dependent Family 81 

X Following the Road 92 

XI Taking Care of His Gifts to You .... 101 

XII Using Money in the Best Way 110 

XIII When He Blows the Postman 's 

Whistle 121 



10 CONTENTS 

CHAPTEE PAGE 

XIV Taking Cake of His Flag 129 

XV Life Saving 137 

XVI Keeping Your Town Beautiful 146 

XVII Being Bied Landlords ,. . 155 

XVIII In Foeest and Steeam 163 

XIX How to be a Good Citizen 174 

XX In His Junioe Seevice 184 

XXI Getting Eeady to Woek foe Him .... 198 

Some Books Uncle Sam has Peepaeed 

foe Boys and Giels 206 

Index 215 



ILLUSTRATIONS 
"I Want You" Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Going to Work for Uncle Sam 17 

A Manual Training Eoom where Boys May 

Learn a Useful Trade 21 

Making a Good Eecord in the Cooking Eoom. . 24 

"Planting and Cultivating a School Garden' '.. 25 

Harvesting Boys and Girls Can Do 29 

Harvesting in the Garden 31 

Uncle Sam's Canning Club Boys at Work 34 

The Best School Lunch of All 38 

The Girl who Likes to Work in the Kitchen. . . 39 

A Pig Will Increase the Food Supply 41 

' ' Carrying Home the Groceries " 43 

Boy Scouts Cleaning the Alleys 47 

The Common House Fly 49 

Boys Making Fly Traps in School. 50 

Going Home from School with their Fly Traps 51 

School Children in Tooth-brush Drill 53 

A Quail on its Nest in the Middle of a Cornfield 57 

A Straw and Frame Shelter for Quail 59 

"I've Never Caught a Bird and I am Proud of 

mv Leash 61 



12 ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Agent Arresting a Man for Beating his Horse 64 
A Horse Ought to be Made Comfortable...... 65 

Do not Abandon an Animal in the Street 67 

A School Pageant. General Washington Saying 

Good Bye to his Soldiers 73 

Keeping Lincoln's Birthday 79 

Christmas in the Children's Ward. . . •. 83 

Keeping Christmas at the Police Station 85 

Stealing Eides is a Frequent Source of Injury. . 87 

A Dangerous Place to Play 87 

The Girl who Learns to Sew is One of Uncle 

Sam 's Homemakers 89 

A Snow-cleaning Squad that Uncle Sam Likes. 97 
A Public Playground is Safer than the Street. . 99 
Boys and Girls May Have a Good Time and 

Learn a Great Deal in Public Libraries . . 103 

Learn All You Can in the Public Museum 105 

Buying Uncle Sam's Thrift Stamps to Save 

Money 113 

Saving the Wages of the Delivery Boy 117 

When the Adventures of Your Letter Begin. . . 125 

Betsy Eoss House 130 

Taking Care of his Flag 133 

The Policeman is One of Your Best Friends . . 138 
"Down the Street Dashes the Fire Engine". . .' 139 
A .Dangerous Place for Your Bonfire 143 



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ILLUSTRATIONS 13 

PAGE 

All the Family Working to Improve the Back 

Yard 148 

Doing her Bit to Keep her Town Beautiful .... 149 

An Arbor Day Procession 152 

Planting a Tree 153 

"It is not Necessary to Build Elaborate Bird 

Houses" 157 

A Bird Boarding House 159 

Scene in a Forest Reserve, California 165 

Pond Fish-cultural Station 167 

A Fire Lookout, Summit of Mt. Eddy, California 169 

Work and Fun in a Forestry Class 170 

The Story of a Pine Tree 171 

Your Teamwork Is Needed in a Game 176 

You Must Obey the Rules of the Game 177 

Playing Together Teaches Children to Work 

Together 179 

"Be Prepared" 185 

Around the Council Fire 189 

Fire is the Camp Fire Symbol 191 

Camp Fire Girl Weaving her Symbol 192 

Packing Comfort Kits for his Soldiers 193 

Working for the Junior Red Cross 195 

Uncle Sam Needs an Army of Everyday Helpers 199 

Pages in the TJ. S. Senate with their Captain. . . 203 



What to Do for Uncle Sam 

CHAPTER I 
WHO IS OUR UNCLE SAM? 

A long while after you have given up the hope 
of ever seeing a real fairy, or a real brownie, 
or Santa Claus, you know just how they look. 
There are pictures of these story-book people that 
keep them in your minds. As you turn the pages 
and see a fairy's wings, or a brownie's cap, or 
old Santa's pack it seems as if you must have 
touched them somewhere outside of the book. And 
you come, at last, to believe in them as you never 
did when you were younger. The woods in the 
spring are full of fairies ; they fly down to you 
with the birds and hide from you in the flowers. 
There is a brownie wherever industry and thrift 
rule in a home. And Santa Claus lives in the 
Christmas kindness of your father and mother. 

That is one strange thing about the world. 
Some of the greatest and best forces in it have 
to be dressed up in our own minds, just as you put 
jewels on a fairy, and a beard on Santa Claus. 
It makes these picture people greater for us, 

15 



16 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

though, because we have to play that they are 
real. And there is one real thing about each. 
They stand for something, so they are alive, are 
they not, after all? 

If you have an uncle who travels about a good 
deal, but sometimes comes to your house for a 
visit, you think a great deal of him. He brings 
you stories of what he has seen and done, and 
you feel like doing something important, too, to 
be like him. He is just as good to all the cousins 
as he is to you, and he has a particular place 
in your heart. 

No one knows exactly when our Uncle Sam came 
first. Probably it was on a Fourth of July long 
ago, when the Declaration of Independence was 
signed. No one has ever shaken hands with Uncle 
Sam, but we know him from the crown of his 
beaver hat to his old fashioned shoes. We have 
seen only his picture, but he speaks to us in the 
greatest word of our land: 

PATRIOTISM 

For a good many years we thought that Uncle 
Sam was so busy at Washington with the Presi- 
dent, the Senate, and Congress, and the Army 
and the Navy that he had little time to come to 
visit us in our town. There seemed to be noth- 
ing for boys and girls to do when he did visit 



WHO IS OUR UNCLE SAM? 



17 




GOING TO WORK FOR UNCLE SAM 



them at the head of a 'parade of soldiers but to 
wave the Stars and Stripes, and cheer. But the 
United States grew, and the cities grew, and more 
and more peorjle found that our country was a 
fine place in which to live. Uncle Sam put on 
his seven league boots and went into every state 
of the Union and into every town, no matter 
how small, helping the people to establish their own 
laws that would keep the whole country safe, and 
good, and clean. 

Uncle Sam spends most of his time at Wash- 
ington, but he is apt to visit you any day. When 
he comes he will have much to tell you of the 
great place among the nations that he is making 
for the United States. He will ask you to help 



18 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

him. Most important will it be for you to have 
your home and your school and your town safe, 
and good, and clean, to welcome your Uncle Sam. 
Perhaps you have stood in front of a large col- 
ored poster of Uncle Sam that you pass on your 
way to school. He is not smiling as you have 
seen him in some of his former pictures, but looks 
sober and anxious. He points his finger at you 
and says : 

"I WANT YOU!" 

That was Uncle Sam's first thought when he 
decided to make our country the most helpful, and 
most powerful in the world. He comes all the 
way from Washington to your town, because he 
needs your help, right here at home. You wouldn't 
fail your own uncle; neither will you fail Uncle 
Sam. Boys and girls can build a great nation 
from their own doorsteps. Wave the Stars and 
Stripes, and go to work to-day for Uncle Sam. 



CHAPTER II 

WHEN HE SITS BEHIND THE TEACHER'S 

DESK 

That sounds like a joke, does it not! Whoever saw 
a long-legged old gentleman dressed in striped trou- 
sers, a swallow-tailed coat, and a hat decorated with 
stars sitting up there behind the teacher's desk. 

But this is one of your Uncle Sam's little jokes; 
he is really a very good-natured person in spite of 
all the burdens that he has to carry on his shoulders. 
Uncle Sam goes to school every day. He has been 
going to school ever since your great, great grand- 
father sat on a hard bench in a little red schoolhouse 
somewhere way off in the country. One of the reasons 
why you have had some trouble with your lessons, 
and have not quite understood your new teacher, is 
that you couldn't see Uncle Sam in the schoolroom. 

As soon as Uncle Sam decided to go to school he 
laid out what he calls school districts. He wanted 
every boy and girl in his great United States family 
to have a chance to grow up an intelligent citizen. 
So he mapped out a good many school districts at 
convenient distances from each other in all parts of 
the country. In the center of each of these districts 
he established a certain amount of land and on it was 

19 



20 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

built a schoolliouse, always just as fine, and large, and 
beautiful a schoolliouse as possible. Uncle Sam called 
at every bouse in every district, too, to find out bow 
many children there were in each, and how it was 
possible for them to get to their school. He planned 
to have as feAV children as possible in each classroom 
so that the teacher might know them all very well. 
Later, his towns paid the carfare of children who 
lived too far away to walk to their school, and bought 
vehicles to carry the crippled ones. 

Uncle Sam is very fond of his plan of govern- 
ment, and he decided next to establish a special 
school government. He thought about this a long 
time and planned it with the greatest care. Every 
school in every state in the Union has its officers 
whose duties are to appoint the teachers, decide 
when there shall be holidays, attend to the selection 
of schoolbooks, pencils, paper, and all the rest of 
the school supply materials; plan what studies 
shall be taught, appoint school nurses and doctors 
to care for the health of the boys and girls, repair 
and rebuild new schoolhouses, buy coal, and be 
Uncle Sam's right hand school-men generally. 

Each state has its own name for these school 
officers : School Committee, School Directors, Board 
of Education, School Visitors, or something like 
that. Uncle Sam permits your father, and perhaps 
your mother, to vote to elect these officers in your 



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22 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

state, and the voters of your School District may 
have made your father or mother one of the school 
officers. 

Uncle Sam had to raise money to pay for all 
this expensive system for teaching boys and girls. 
He wanted to give them a knowledge of figures, 
and land, and fine literature, and penmanship, and 
spelling, and useful trades free. How was he to 
go about doing this? There must be money for 
the land, and the building material, and the books, 
and the teachers' salaries. He decided to estab- 
lish a very wise plan. This plan is known as 
school taxation. 

Mr. Brown lives at the top of a hill in a house 
that is almost as large as a castle. He is rich, 
and he has only one boy who is to go to school. 
At the foot of the hill Mr. Jones lives, and works 
at a small salary for Mr. Brown in one of his 
factories. But Mr. Jones has several children to 
send to school. Which of the two shall pay for 
the schooling of all the children? Uncle Sam's 
taxation plan gives Mr. Brown more to pay than 
Mr. Jones; in fact Mr. Brown pays practically 
all the school expenses of the Jones boys and 
girls. It is possible that some person whom you 
do not know, and who has no children, is helping 
to pay the taxes that give you your school. 

Uncle Sam went into his schools after he had 



BEHIND THE TEACHER'S DESK 23 

built them, and furnished them, and paid for them. 
He decided to make a few school laws that would 
be easy for all his boys and girls to keep. They 
are very few, and very simple, and are suitable 
for any school in any state in the Union: 

Be prompt. 

Be regular in attendance. 

Be obedient. 

Be studious. 

Be respectful. 

If you are all of these, Uncle Sam says that 
you will be successful. 

There he is in your school, having worked very 
hard to get it ready for you. What can you do 
to help him? 

First of all, do as Uncle Sam tells you to; obey 
his rules. 

Forming a habit of being prompt and regular 
in going to school will be a fine habit for you 
to have established when you grow up. You can 
try to enjoy the study you dislike when you 
realize that it would not be in the course except 
that children all over the Union need it. Every 
boy and girl who is self-respecting will be orderly 
in the classroom. 

Keeping Uncle Sam's school rules is the easiest 
part of this helping. Now, try to find ways of 
surprising him in school! 






24 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



One surprise for Uncle Sam comes before you 
cross the threshold. He rather expects you to 

trample on his school 
grass, and cut your 
name with a jack knife 
in the fence, and throw 
papers and pencil 
shavings in the gravel 
paths. Surprise him 
by doing none of these 
things. 

If you have studied 
pictures of Uncle Sam 
you have discovered 
that although his suit 
and hat are not of the 
style of to-day, he is 
very particular about 
his personal appearance. He is never too busy 
to tie his necktie in a neat bow, comb his hair, and 
blacken his boots. This is your school surprise 
number two for Uncle Sam. Come to school look- 
ing just as neat and tidy as you possibly can. 

Surprise number three will be to show Uncle 
Sam that he does not need to stay in your school- 
room, behind the teacher's desk. He has done a 
great deal for the children of the Union in giv- 
ing them free schools, and he deserves a chance 




MAKING A GOOD RECORD 
IN THE COOKING ROOM 



BEHIND THE TEACHER'S DESK 



25 



to rest from Iris duties when school opens. If a 
child abuses school privileges in any way, the 
teacher may feel that he has forfeited his right 
to the gift of the schools, but she cannot expel 
him. She must recommend to the school officers 
of that district that the child be expelled, and 
they must look up the law in the case. So it is 
our hard-worked Uncle Sam who has to sit in 
judgment on school truants and school law breakers. 
Save him this trouble by removing the cause. 
The last school surprise for Uncle Sam will be 











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Coal, Iron, and R. R. Co., Birmingham, Ala. 

'PLANTING AND CULTIVATING A SCHOOL GARDEN" 



26 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

what you, his boy and girl pupils, do to improve 
his schools. That means, in the first place, improv- 
ing yourselves. Show high class standing, pass 
with honors into another class, make a good record 
in the manual training and the cooking rooms. Get 
along so fast that Uncle Sam, should he come on 
a visit to your school, will not find you, because 
you may be in High School or in your State 
University. 

You can better your school, also, by planting and 
cultivating a school garden, and by trying to make 
your classroom beautiful with wild flowers and 
bright leaves in their season. You can help to 
provide good pictures and a flag for your room. 
You can learn Uncle Sam's favorite songs, "The 
Star Spangled Banner,' ' "America," and "Colum- 
bia"; his patriotic speeches; and read his Declara- 
tion of Independence over and over again. 

Our Government builds the schools; but it needs 
every boy. and girl in the United States to keep 
them up to the standard of the Stars and Stripes. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO £>0 

1. What does your school ask boys and girls to do in 
connection with promptness, order, attendance, truancy? 

2. What can you do to keep the schoolroom looking well ? 

3. What attention should you give to your personal 
appearance before coming to school? 



BEHIND THE TEACHER'S DESK 27 

4. Is there anything that you can do in connection with 
your school work to make your school stand high among 
the others in your town? 

5. How does each of these special school classes help 
the home and the town: a kindergarten, a cooking class, a 
manual training class, a class for the blind or the crippled, 
a class to teach the English language to children who come 
to America from foreign lands? 

6. How is your school helping you to have a good time, 
in the playground, in the gymnasium, or on special occa- 
sions ? 

7. Indicate on a map of your town the location of the 
different free schools or as many of these as you can; and 
tell what special studies a boy or girl can take up in these. 
You could make this school map in a sand tray, also. 

8. Go with your teacher to the school yard, and look 
over its appearance carefully. Is there anything that you 
can do to improve its appearance? 



CHAPTER III 
HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 

Fall seems to be about the most pleasant time of 
the year to boys and girls. Fields, and orchards, and 
gardens shine in the mellow sunlight and smell of 
the good things that the year's bounty has given us. 

Last year, you went out to -the cornfield and 
picked a fat, golden pumpkin to make into a grin- 
ning Jack-o '-Lantern. You climbed up in the old 
apple tree and selected the largest, rosiest apple 
you could find to eat as you sat on. the limb and 
looked off over the autumn colored country. And 
you decided that you would rather play with the 
other children than help grandfather clean the 
garden and get it ready for winter. You wanted 
to rake leaves and have a bonfire, or go off to 
the woods and fill your pockets with nuts. 

This year, though, Uncle Sam wants you to 
spend the crisp, sunny fall days very differently. 
He says that you are to stay outdoors just as 
much as you did last year, and you are to have 
the same fall fun but in a bigger, more useful 
kind of way. There are a great many things he 
wants you to do . to help your country in field, and 
orchard, and garden. 

28 



HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 



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HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 



There is that Jack-o '-Lantern first, which inter- 
ests Uncle Sam very much indeed. You are to 
make one, but instead of throwing away the seeds 
or feeding them to the fowls as you have always 
done before, the Government would like you to save 
them. To have a good share of pumpkin seeds is. 



30 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

to be sure of a good many more pumpkins next 
year. 

There are countless kinds of important seeds 
that children can gather in the fall, and save for 
next spring's planting; squash seed, pumpkin seed, 
beans, peas, grains, are all seeds that will be 
very valuable to save. They should be carefully 
dried on a board in the sun, put away in labeled 
boxes or bags in a dry place, and watched all 
winter so that none may be eaten by mice. Beans 
form such an important food that we ought to 
gather all we can and dry them for eating in 
the form of soup in the winter. The common 
white bean, the lima bean, and the black bean are 
plentiful in this country and are almost as nour- 
ishing as meat. Boys and girls who have culti- 
vated these in their gardens this summer may dry 
them for the winter and add to our country's 
food supply. We have always thought that the 
green pods of the common string bean had no 
value as food, but in Europe they are saved, cut 
up while green, salted, and preserved in cans for 
the winter. They may be used for flavoring soups. 

The seeds of melons should be gathered, dried, 
and saved for planting. The rind of the citron 
or the watermelon makes a delicious sweetmeat if 
it is preserved. And when you have gathered 
whatever you can find in the fields for seed and 



HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 



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Coal, Iron, and R. R. Co., Birmingham, Ala. 



HARVESTING IN THE GARDEN 



drying, get out your spade and rake and help to 
clear the ground of stones and roots. That will 
save time when the planting season comes in the 
spring. 

The orchard is full of work for children this 
fall. Whether you live near a farmer who needs 
help, or have a few fruit trees at home, you can 
help pick, sort, and pack apples and pears. There 
are ways of making these last at home longer 
than they would ordinarily. The hard winter pear 
has never seemed to be of very great value. It 



32 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

seldom ripens on the trees before frost comes, 
and then it is apt to mellow so quickly that it spoils 
before we get the best nse of it. This tough, 
big, unpromising looking fruit may be made very 
useful, however, if only one knows how to use it. 
Boys and girls may pick the winter pears when 
they have reached their growth but have not 
entirely ripened. Be very sure that not a sin- 
gle pear has a bruise or speck of any kind, no 
matter how small. Each pear must have the 
stem firmly attached. When your pears are gath- 
ered, put a tiny drop of sealing wax on the blos- 
som end and on the stem of each. This closes the 
pear to the air and keeps the natural juices of the 
fruit from escaping, which would dry it. Then 
place the pears, resting on the blossom end, on 
a shelf in some part of the house where they will 
be dark and cool. Look them over often to see 
that there- is no decay started in one, even, as 
this might hurt the rest of the fruit. Winter 
pears preserved in this way ripen slowly, and well. 
They often last until spring and are delicious 
baked with sugar as one bakes apples, or stewed 
with a little molasses added. 

The children of Colonial days had ever so much 
fun in the fall drying apples for winter use. 
This will be quite as pleasant and a new kind 
of work for the child of to-day. Sour apples are 



HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 33 

better to select for drying than sweet ones. You 
can use the smaller apples, if they are unblem- 
ished and solid, saving the larger ones for pack- 
ing and eating. Remove the stem and the blos- 
som first. Then pare the apple with a sharp knife, 
as thinly as you can. These apple parings need 
not be thrown away. Let them simmer, with sugar, 
in a preserving kettle, strain the syrup, and reboil. 
It makes very good jelly. 

The apples should then be cored, whole. There 
is a circular cutter for coring apples that will 
do this very easily. To core an apple quickly, 
set it upright on a board, holding it in place as 
you press the cutter straight clown inside. This 
makes a clean cut. When the apple is cored, it 
should be sliced crosswise in sections about ~a 
third of an inch thick. String these circular pieces 
on a cord that is stretched for drying them in a 
cool, dry place. If you have an attic it will 
be splendicl for drying such food for the winter. 
Bundles of herbs may be hung there, too. 

Having a Club with Uncle Sam will be about the 
best kind of work and play that boys and girls can 
have this fall. In the office of the States Relation 
Service at Washington the Chief of the Service 
has a very wonderful photograph hung over his 
desk. It takes a large frame to hold it for it shows 
hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls from every 



34: 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



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Courtesy, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture (Jr. Extension Work) 
UNCLE SAM'.S CANNING- CLUB BOYS AT WORK 



state in the Union who have corn, and pig, and 
poultry, and canning clubs that form a kind of 
peaceful army, behind the lines, for Uncle Sam. 
See if you can be one of that army with your club 
this year. 

There are a great many of Uncle Sam's books 
waiting for you at Washington, and telling you 
just how to form and carry on a club. Among the 
most helpful of these are, Boys' and Girls' Agricul- 
tural Clubs, Bulletin, No. 385; Farm and Home 



HARVESTING BOYS AND GIRLS CAN DO 35 

Handicraft Clubs, No. 26; Suggestions for Boys' 
and Girls' Exhibits at Fairs, No. 55; Development 
of Boys' Club Work, No. 29; Canning of Fruits and 
Vegetables for Clubs, No. 853; Boys' Pig Clubs, 
No. 566; Boys' and Girls' Poultry Clubs, No. 562; 
and School Lessons on Corn, No. 653. You will 
find more of these books and directions for obtain- 
ing them listed on pages 206-214. 

Instead of burning all the leaves in bonfires 
this fall, gather as many as you can in bags and 
bring them home to help enrich the garden for 
next year. Some of the leaves should be spread 
over the beds where there are roots and bulbs 
that need protection from the frost. Pile any 
extra leaves that you can get in a sheltered place 
where they can remain all winter and decay. They 
contain valuable chemical elements that will be 
important helps for fertilizing the earth next spring. 

Nutting this year? Of course; and Uncle Sam 
wants to go with you. He says to go nutting oftener 
than you ever did before, and to gather more nuts. 
Don't eat them all at once, though. Save them, 
as the squirrels do, to eat when the snow flies. 
A basket of nuts is a whole meal in itself, often. 
A chestnut has oils that are a substitute for but- 
ter, a little sweetness that takes the place of sugar, 
and starch that makes it very valuable ground into 
flour. So many nuts, the white and black walnut, 



36 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

the hickory nut, the pecan, and the peanut can 
be raised in the United States, and gathering them 
is just the work for boys and girls. They may 
take . the place of meat on the table, helping to 
make the butcher's bills smaller. 

Who is going outdoors with Uncle Sam this fall? 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How can you get the most to eat and to plant out 
of the following ? A potato ; an apple ; a pumpkin ; a 
melon; a quart of peas or beans. 

2. Did you have a garden last summer? What kinds 
of food did you raise in it? 

3. Are there any nuts, fruits, vegetables, or important 
seeds that you can help to gather near your home? 

4. Have you ever helped a farmer, or a market gardener, 
and how? 

5. Is there a Government Corn Club, or a Canning 
Club in your town? Do you belong to it? 

6. Ask your teacher if she will send to Washington 
to the United States Department of Agriculture for the 
pamphlets the Department has for children about these 
clubs. Perhaps you could start one of them. 

7. Model some of our most valuable fruits, vegetables, 
or nuts in clay, or make a basket for harvesting. 

8. Go for an excursion to a truck farm, a large city 
market, or a wharf where foodstuffs are brought in and 
unloaded. 



CHAPTER IV 
HELPING TO SAVE FOE HIM 

Not long ago some of Uncle Sam's officials in 
one of the great cities of the United States started 
out to see what was becoming of the city's huge 
supply of food. There was a great deal of every 
kind sold, enough to keep a city and a half of 
that size from being hungry. Yet the farmers 
who brought in the produce, and the dealers who 
sold it said that there wouldn't be enough food 
to go around soon if it were used up so fast. 

No one knew that these officials were going 
about. They started early in the morning and 
peeped into the back yards and looked at the 
back doorsteps where the garbage cans waited for 
the city teams. Then they .made a discovery. There 
was a great amount of good food thrown away. 
When these men went back to their offices and did 
some figuring, they found out that several thousand 
dollars' worth of food was being wasted every day. 
One strange thing about it was that the greatest 
waste was where it could least be afforded: it was 
in families where there were children. 

Uncle Sam is asking us to be very economical 
so that the remains of last year's harvest and the 

37 



38 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 




Copyright, Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. 

the; best school lunch of all 

fruits of this fall may last for tlie time that we 
shall need them. Every boy and girl in the United 
States can help in this saving. Who will begin 
to-day, this very hour? 

Saving for Uncle " Sam begins at meal time. 
Leaving bits of nourishing food at table is a habit 
common to a great many boys and girls. It is very 
much better to turn good food into red blood and 
strong muscles than to throw it away. That is 
the first saving you can do. 

Perhaps you are in the habit of cutting the 



HELPING TO SAVE FOR HIM 



39 



skin from your apple before you eat it. The 
Government says that you will be helping to grow 
into strong, useful citizens if you can learn to 
eat some of the things like the skin of an apple, 
that you always used to throw away. There are 
chemical properties, especially iron, in the skin 
of fruits that your bodies need. Try to eat at 
least one apple with its skin every day, drink a 
glass of milk; eat 
green foods in their 
season such as let- 
tuce, spinach, dande- 
lion greens, and green 
beans and peas. Find 
out with the man in 
the moon how good a 
bowl of pease porridge 
is, and learn to eat 
bread when it has been 
baked a day. It is bet- 
ter for your muscles, 
and there is less waste 
to it than when it is 
freshly baked. 

The girl who knows 
what fun it is to work 
in the kitchen may have just twice as much fun 
finding out how to put the garbage man out of 




THE GIRL, WHO LIKES TO 
WORK IN THE KITCHEN 
WILL FIND WAYS OP SAVING 



40 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

work. Suppose there are some stale rolls and 
a half loaf of very hard bread in the bread box. 
Make them into a bread pudding, or cut the bread 
into tiny cubes and toast them to eat with soup. 
You may get out the rolling pin and the bread 
board and crush them into bread crumbs. These 
can be kept in a glass jar, covered, for a long 
time and will help mother when she wants to roll 
her croquettes or meat balls. Another way of 
saving is to do as the French do, save all the green 
tops of vegetables that most people throw away, 
and use them in some valuable way. The tops 
of carrots, beets, parsnips, celery, and leeks may 
simmer in the soup pot on the back of the stove 
and make a most delicious flavoring for soup or 
stew. 

We ought never to take off a potato's jacket 
before cooking. The most nourishing part of the 
potato, the part that makes it grow, and us too, 
is next the skin. Lemon peel is better, grated, 
for flavoring than lemon extract. Orange peel may 
be dried, and grape fruit peel, too, and used for 
lighting the fire because they are full- of natural 
oils. The cereal left from breakfast may be fried 
and eaten instead of potatoes with meat, for sup- 
per. And the girl who works in the kitchen in 
this careful way will find other ways of saving, too. 

What can the boys do to save for Uncle Sam? 



HELPING TO SAVE FOR HIM 



41 




Courtesy, Superintendent of Schools, Cook County, 111. 
A PIG WILL INCREASE THE FOOD SUPPLY 

Oh, there is no end to the help they can give 
him! Instead of throwing away newspapers, and 
string, and pieces of wire, and the paper that 
wraps bundles, and stubs of pencils, and ends of 
chalk, remember that those can be used in various 
ways a little longer. Bent nails can be hammered 
straight and will come out quite as strong as new. 
These seem very little things to think of, but if 
each child in the United States stops to think 
whether he is wasting or saving for an hour each 
day, he will make the country richer for his efforts. 
We must save our money, too! Did you ever 
look at the designs which the United States Mint 
stamps on our coins and ask yourself why they 
are there ? The silver quarter of a dollar has 



42 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

our American eagle, with spread wings cover- 
ing almost the whole of one side, and that is for 
our .freedom. Some of our ten cent pieces bear 
a lighted torch to carry the message of freedom 
as long as the coin lasts. A copper penny is 
quite the most interesting coin of all in design. 
It shows you the Indian who gave us our land, 
and the laurel wreath of our great Nation. It 
shows us President Lincoln, too, who was one of 
our greatest citizens, and the grain that gives us 
our food. As we look at these beautiful coins 
that are our currency, we see at once that they 
really mean something to Uncle Sam. We ought 
to think very carefully about the way in which 
we spend our money. 

It is an excellent plan, of course, to save pen- 
nies and dimes and quarters. It is very much 
better than to eat them up in candy. Spending 
money wisely, though, is another way of saving-, 
it helps the money work, and increase, and give 
back to us a different kind of value. When you 
buy some ink, or paper, or a book, you are saving 
money by turning it into your brain power. When 
you spend money for needles, or cloth, or thread, 
or some wood to make a bee frame, and a chicken 
coop, or buy a setting hen, or a pig, or seeds, 
or garden too]s; or spend it for anything to be 
made into something useful, or to help something to 



HELPING TO SAVE FOR HIM 



43 



grow, you are spending in a way that helps Uncle 
Sam. You help him, too, when you buy ten cents' 
worth of fresh air and 
health by going on the 
car to the park, the 
country, or the beach. 

And there is just 
one more way for boys 
and girls to help the 
country to-day. You 
can try to save steps. 
The drygoods man 
may have to let Uncle 
Sam have his delivery 
truck, and it always 
makes his cloth cost 
more when he has to 

send it to your door. The grocer may lose his 
delivery man, but what does that matter? Every 
child in the country can play that he is a home page 
for the Government and carry bundles that would 
otherwise have to be delivered. This will save 
work, and time, and the cost of delivering. 

Put on your caps and run! Carrying home the 
groceries, saving your money by spending it wisely, 
and lessening the garbage man's load, will be games 
to play with Uncle Sam. See how quickly you can 
learn these games. 




Courtesy, Boy Scouts of America 

"CARRYING HOME 
THE GROCERIES" 



44 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How can you save food and make it go farther in 
the home bread box, the fruit basket/ the vegetable bin, 
on your plate at meal time, and in your school lunch? 

2. What do you think it is best to pack in your school 
luncheon box, and why? 

3. If there should be a lunch room started in your 
school, what do you think it would be wisest to have on 
the bill of fare so that the least food would be wasted? 

4. Here are the great food families. Certain members of 
each should come to table with you every day. 

The Mineral and Acid Family : 

This is made up of apples, oranges, prunes, raisins, cab- 
bage, onions, carrots, squash, green salads, greens, potatoes, 
bananas, grapes, rhubarb, dates, beets, parsnips, pumpkins, 
turnips, cucumbers, and other fruits and vegetables. 
The Meat and Meat Substitute Family, Known as the 
Proteins : 

Beef, poultry, lamb, fish, cheese, beans, peas, eggs, pea- 
nuts, and milk. 
The Starch Family: 

Wheat, oatmeal, graham, and corn bread; such breakfast 
foods as oatmeal, cornmeal mush, rice, and fine wheat 
cereals, and muffins and cakes made of these different grains. 
The Sugar Family: 

Cane and beet sugar, molasses, syrup, honey, dried fruits 
such as. dates and raisins, jam, marmalade, candy, maple 
sugar, and frosted cakes. 
The Family of Fats: 

Butter, olive and peanut oil, lard, and' other fats used 
in frying, bacon, nut butter, and the fat of meat. 



HELPING TO SAVE FOR HIM 45 

A BIRTHDAY SUPPER WHICH ALL THE FOOD FAMILIES ATTEND 

Meat Loaf Baked Potatoes 

Green Peas 

Raisin Bread Nut Butter 

Milk 

Birthday Cake, Frosted 

Each grown person doing light work, and growing boys 
and girls need at least one pound of minerals and acids, 
one pound and a quarter of proteins, twelve ounces of the 
starchy foods, one-third of a cup of sugar, or some sweet 
from that group, and two ounces of fat a day. 

See how many home meals you can plan that include 
just the right amounts of each group of foods. 

5. Name some left-overs that may be used instead of 
being wasted in a garbage can. 

6. Can you think of some nourishing foods that will 
not keep, and which should be eaten before those that 
will keep? 

7. How can you make each of the following last longer: 
A lead pencil, a pair of shoes, a pad of paper, a new book 
or game, a bucket of coal? 

8. If you save your mother's time by helping her at 
home, she may be able to play a game with you. If you 
have the empty milk bottles ready for the milkman, he 
can go to the next house more quickly. How can you save 
time for each of these workers: your teacher, the street 
cleaner, the grocer, the school janitor, the librarian? 

9. Watch your home garbage can to see that nothing 
is wasted in it. 



CHAPTER V 
KEEPING WELL 

The boys and girls who have strong, healthy 
bodies are going to be a great help to the United 
States Government in the coming years. In the 
first place, health will make it possible for them 
to work harder and play harder, in this way 
gaining more health. Another very important 
reason for taking good care of yonr bodies is 
to save your mothers and fathers from wasting 
money in buying medicines and paying doctors' 
bills. 

Every city in the United States has a Board 
of Health. This is because there are certain 
conditions in a community, no matter how small, 
that may cause sickness. These Boards of Health 
watch the schools, the streets, and the rivers for 
any disease dangers, and do all that lies in their 
power to prevent contagion. If every family, 
though, and every child in every family were care- 
ful about the very simple hygienic matters that 
the Board of Health has to watch, the community 
would be a safer, better place in which to live. 
It isn't enough to keep well oneself. We ought 

46 



KEEPING WELL 



47 




Copyright, Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. 

BOY SCOUTS CLEANING THE ALLEYS TO IMPROVE THE 
HEALTH OF THEIR CITY 



to be thoughtful of the health of our neighbors, and 
not do anything that will be dangerous for the 
welfare of the boys and girls in the next block. 

Uncle Sam would like all his boys and girls 
to join forces now and form Junior boards of 
health. He would like them to watch for what- 
ever danger to public health there may be in 
their neighborhood. These boys and girls can 
be health scouts, spending a part of each day, 
or even * the time going and coming from school, 
using their sharp eyes in the aid of cleanliness. 



48 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

They must look carefully for conditions that spread 
disease, and ways to improve them. 

It does not seem possible, as we lift a glass 
of clear water to our lips for a refreshing drink, 
or feel a crystal raindrop touch our cheek that 
the water supply, if impure, might make one very 
ill indeed. The Government does all it can to 
purify our drinking water and regulate the sup- 
ply, but boys and girls get very thirsty and often 
forget to think where their drinking water comes 
from. 

Learn where the water starts, and tell your 
friends whether or not it is safe to drink it. 

Most of the water on the earth's surface is 
stored in the oceans, from which it is drawn up 
by the sun to form clouds, and then falls again 
as rain. But the rainfall fills the rivers, and these 
are swift flowing at first, but slow and winding 
as they go through towns and villages. Slowly 
flowing rivers, poisoned by sewage from the dumps 
on their banks, are apt to be very dangerous to 
health. That is why most towns draw off water 
into artificial lakes and reservoirs, purify it, and 
then send it through underground pipes to the 
houses and public buildings. 

Children should be very careful about what kind 
of water they drink. The little pool of rain 
water sunk in the ground in the park or woods 



KEEPING WELL 



49 



LIFE CYCLE OF A FLY 



may be full of disease germs and most unsafe 
to drink. It will be better to carry some bot- 
tles of cooled, boiled 
water when you go for 
a bike or a nutting 
party than to drink 
from a spring, no mat- 
ter how clear it looks. 
"We must be very' 
careful not to do any- 
thing that will contam- 
inate the public water 
supply. Waste mate- 




Courtesy, Agricultural Extension 
Dept., International Harvester Co. 



THE COMMON HOUSE FLY 



rial that will decay 
should never be 
thrown in a lake or 

reservoir which is piped for home use. Your gar- 
bage thrown carelessly into a river may cause illness 
a long distance away. Sewage is washed back and 
forth by the action of the currents for many days 
and causes the water to be badly poisoned. Such a 
condition is a health menace, especially in fresh 
water streams or lakes where the polluted water 
reaches the supply of some other town. 

Boys and girls can fight other community dis- 
ease carriers. Almost the worst of these is the 
common house fly. One does not realize to look 
at it, how much harm one fly can do. Its eggs, 



50 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM' 



from which the larvae hatch, are laid in dirt of 
some kind, decayed food, manure, polluted ground 
and the like. One fly lays an average of one 
hundred and twenty eggs at a time and is apt 
to have nine families during a season. Scientists 
tell us that this one fly may have several hundred 
thousand fly relatives in a very short time. These 

larvae stay in the dirt 
in which the eggs are 
hatched until they de- 
velop into adult flies. 
In the meantime their 
wings become laden 
with disease germs, 
and the flies carry 
these and leave them 
wherever they light. 

A great many epi- 
demics of fevers have 
been caused by flies, 
and doctors tell us 
that there are two and 
a half times as many 
sick babies in houses 
where there are flies as 
in those without. Why not get rid of the flies, boys 
and girls! 

Uncle Sam tells you just how to go about doing 









M^IH 


f'^ r 


|^K - MKKt 


mJgjjrj «qn| 




V -?%iij&& 





Courtesy, Agricultural Extension 
Dept., International Harvester Co. 

BOYS MAKING FLY TRAPS IN 
SCHOOL 



KEEPING WELL 



51 




Courtesy, Agricultural Extension Dept., International Harvester Co. 
GOING HOME FROM SCHOOL WITH THEIR FLY TRAPS 



this. Your Junior boards of health can divide 
the towns into sections and scout for uncovered 
garbage and refuse pails and dumps of decaying 
matter where flies may breed. You will need to 
look on the fruit stands, candy stands, and in the 
grocery and butchers' shops where there is uncov- 
ered food. That is the direct danger route of 
the fly, from its breeding place to uncovered food. 
Ask every one to cover up his garbage pail or 
burn the refuse. Do not buy fruit or candy over 



52 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

which flies have swarmed, and tell your mother 
about any unprotected food in the shops. 

Another help you can give in this protection 
against flies is to be very careful about closing 
the screen doors at home, and not to make any 
holes in the screens at the windows. An excel- 
lent way of spending your money will be for a 
fly swatter, some fly paper, or a fly trap. The 
children of a neighborhood might have a fly killing 
contest. It will be a very worth while kind of war. 

You ought to fight mosquitoes as well as flies. 
These carry disease to cattle in addition to human 
beings, and we need to care for our cows and 
sheep particularly well now. Stagnant water is 
the breeding place of the mosquito. The eggs 
are laid on the surface of the water and the young 
must live in it for a while. The waste water that 
you thoughtlessly throw out may breed these lit- 
tle danger carriers. Weeds and bushes along 
the edges of marshy land are alive with them 
and should be cut out. Overhanging grass should 
be cut from the edges of all ditches, streams, 
and pools in your neighborhood. There is not 
very much that children can do in ridding a com- 
munity of mosquitoes, but these slight measures 
will really count for a good deal if every boy 
and girl does his or her share. The main point 
is not to take a walk, or play near the wet ground 



54 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

where there are swarms of mosquitoes. Their 
bites may make you very ill indeed. 

Perhaps you have a wonderful museum of natu- 
ral history near your school that you can visit 
soon and look for the exhibits there that tell you 
about public health. This will help you to organ- 
ize the work of your Junior health board. Look 
for the relief map that shows the drainage sys- 
tem of your town. You may be able to copy 
this at home in clay, or sand, which will be a 
new kind of rainy day occupation. Look, too, 
for the giant size models of the mosquito and 
fly in the museum. These will help you and the 
others to understand how dangerous they are. 
And ask your teacher and the librarian in the 
children's room to suggest a reading list about 
keeping well. 

Every school and every Board of Health has 
rules about those children who have such con- 
tagious diseases as measles, whooping cough, or 
scarlet fever. It would be a good plan to find 
out just what these are and make copies of them 
to give your Junior Board. Be sure to brush your 
teeth three times a day, and keep your hands and 
face just as clean as you can. These seem like 
very small things to do for Uncle Sam, but they 
will please him just as much as something greater, 
and they will help him, too. 



KEEPING WELL 55 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. The following are very unsafe habits for children: 
Drinking water from a spring, or pond; using a common 
drinking cup ; sleeping or studying in a room with little 
fresh air • "forgetting to brush your teeth ; going to a house 
that the Board of Health has quarantined. "Why are they 
unsafe ? 

2. What is the danger to you and, to your family of 
flies ; of mosquitoes ? 

3. How can boys and girls help to rid their homes 
and their town of flies and mosquitoes? 

4. Where is the office of the Board of Health in your 
town? 

5. What notices have you seen posted about the town, 
and where, by the Board of Health? 

6. Have you seen uncovered garbage pails, or food and 
candy for sale uncovered near your home? Is there any 
thing that you can do about this? 

7. "What is a contagious disease ? 

8. Why should you stay at home if you have measles, 
or whooping cough, or any other contagious disease? 

9. What are the rules of your school about such diseases ? 

10. Make a map in sand or clay showing where your 
town's pure water comes from. Put in your river, creek, 
or pond where there might be danger from impure water 
or mosquitoes. 

11. Go with your mother or teacher to a museum of 
natural history, or a public health exhibit where you can 
get suggestions in regard to keeping well. 



CHAPTER VI 
SAYING THE WILD FOWL AND BIRDS 

Bob White! Bob White! Every boy and girl 
knows the cheery call of the quail as it rings out 
over the upland meadows from spring until the 
snow flies in the fall. You know, too, what a 
friendly bird Bob is, nesting so near the farm 
and so low down in the meadow grass as to be 
easily destroyed by the trampling of cattle, or 
by wild animals. You have watched Bob, him- 
self, a big, mottled bird, and easily seen against 
the green of his surroundings. 

He is close enough to be an easy bird to bag. 
You raise your gun! aim — 

But wait a moment before you pull the trigger! 

The United States Government tells us that we 
and our foreign neighbors need every bit of food 
that can be raised. We shall need every vege- 
table, every kernel of grain, every fruit that the 
farmer can produce to spread the world's dining 
table and not leave any hungry mouths. The 
most difficult part of farming to-day is to get 
men to work on the farm. There is not enough 
labor to go around. And you were going to shoot 
one of the most helpful farm laborers there is, 

56 



58 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

the friendly quail! That's right; drop your gun. 

The quail is the best policeman for the small 
pests of the farm ever known. That is why he 
risks his life and lives so near the fields. He 
keeps busy from sunrise until sunset and from 
ploughing to planting, killing the enemies of the 
food that is raised on the farm. 

It is not enough to spare the life of the quail. 
Bob White needs protection. It is not a well- 
known fact, but quite true, that he suffers ter- 
ribly in the winter. Sometimes quails are frozen 
fast for weeks at a time in the marshy meadows 
with the result that the birds are* unable to sur- 
vive. Boys and girls may prevent this by put- 
ting up little straw shelters, built like small tents 
or huts, in those spots near the farm where the 
quail is apt to flock. Some cracked corn can be 
scattered inside these shelters and Bob White 
can live inside, safe and warm, until spring comes 
and he starts out to follow the plow. 

We must do all we can to protect and help the 
wild fowl of the open; the sage grouse, the part- 
ridge, the wild turkey, and the prairie hen. While 
we do not need these for food now, there may come 
a time when we shall. Teach your dog some other 
kind of sport than chasing them and let them 
have a long rest. Uncle Sam, himself, is think- 
ing of doing something to protect the important 



SAVING THE WILD FOWL AND BIRDS 



59 




Courtesy, National Ass'n of Audubon Societies 

A STRAW AND FRAME SHELTER FOR QUAIL 

The lower food tray attracts the birds who find their way into the 
upper, glass inclosed tray of food. This is a valuable farm devise 
and can be made by a boy who is handy with tools. 

wild fowl and animals. He regrets that our buffalo 
and passenger pigeon are almost extinct. Tell 
the other children that Bob White is protected by 
state laws in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Michi- 
gan, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, North Dakota, 
South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

If you were to board an observation train and 
take a journey across the Great Plains, the Rocky 



60 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

• 

Mountains, and the Pacific States, you would be 
very much surprised at something which has hap- 
pened. You might see a few wild birds, perhaps 
a deer or two, maybe a chipmunk. There would 
be few rabbits and squirrels, and almost no fawns. 
It is surprising how soon a wild species becomes 
extinct, and we are likely to need wild food, and 
all the birds that live on insects. 

Some of our states are going to try and regu- 
late hunting and establish safe preserves in the 
forest land where the deer may rest for a few 
years. Children may help by putting away their 
rabbit snares and by sparing the squirrels. The 
cat needs more attention just now, too, for she has 
little mercy on the farmer's helpers, the birds. 
A house cat, well fed, and properly sheltered, 
will soon become too lazy to hunt. The neglected 
cats, starved, and without shelter, that haunt the 
country and the city, too, go back to their tiger 
habits and do great harm to wild life. 

The claws of a cat are savage weapons. Some- 
times a robin which a cat has only struck down 
with her claws is poisoned, and dies in a most 
cruel way. A pigeon cut by a cat's claw very 
seldom lives. A pet squirrel that a cat scratched 
seemed unhurt at first, but it refused to eat, and 
finally died. Some cats have been known to climb 
orchard trees and rob nests of valuable birds that 



SAVING THE WILD FOWL AND BIRDS 



61 




"I'VE NEVER CAUGHT A BIRD, 
AND I AM PROUD OF MY LEASH" 



eat insects. A full-grown cat may catch as many 
as fifty birds a year in a locality where birds 
are numerous. The 
birds destroyed in- 
clude the smaller wild 
ones, Bob White, the 
ruffed grouse, the 
heath hen, pheasants, 
and partridges. 

Two cats, that had 
tasted birds, were tied 
in a yard by their col- 
lars to prevent their hunting. They imitated the call 
of the robin and were able to attract several birds 
to them which they killed. Another cat, that had 
hunted as a kitten, was belled to prevent her catch- 
ing birds. She brought in thirty-two birds one 
season and twenty-eight the next, although she had 
six bells on her collar. 

It is said that there are many million valuable 
wild birds killed every year in the United States 
by cats. The value of cats as mousers is not great. 
A trap is just as good for a mouse or a rat. It 
would seem that the value of pussy, then, is only 
that of a pet, and one cat is about all any boy 
or girl can well care for. Your cat needs good 
feeding, in the first place, for hunger makes her 
hunt. People who are studying wild life for the 



62 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Government tell us that out of every five hundred 
cats, four hundred are allowed to stay out at 
night. The greatest numbers of birds are killed 
between supper and breakfast. 

If you have a cat, keep it in at night, feed it 
meat and water in addition to milk, and put wire 
cat guards around trees where there are birds' 
nests and about your nest-box poles. A light 
colored cat is better to have than a dark one. 
Some pet cats are quite proud of having a long leash 
fastened to their collars when they are out doors. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. "What foods that you eat every day grow on a farm? 

2. Tell as much as you can about the work of the 
farmer in raising these foods. 

3. How does the quail help to save crops on the farm? 

4. "What can you do to help the quail? 

5. What wild fowl and animals are important for food 
when our supply of other meat is low? 

6. How may your cat lower the food supply of the 
United States? 

7. How should you feed your cat to keep her from 
hunting? What else can you do to keep her from catching 
birds, wild fowl, and young rabbits? 

8. If you live in the country, put up some straw shel- 
ters for the wild fowl and birds who do not migrate. 

9. If you live in the city, see what you can do to help, 
or rid it of homeless cats. The Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to animals will tell you how to do this. 



CHAPTER VII 
BEING KIND TO HIS ANIMALS 

Uncle Sam has a habit of traveling about a 
good deal. His headquarters are, of course, at 
the Capitol in the City of Washington, but ever 
since he founded the thirteen original colonies, 
and put them in shining stars in his flag, he has 
spent a good deal of time in the different states 
of our Union. He likes the states because they 
are so different, and so widespread. Some are 
large, and some small, some are on the sea, and 
some inland, some are full of great cities, and 
some are made up of stretches of farm land. 

There is one way, though, in which all the 
states are alike. Each one has dumb beasts in 
it. Uncle Sam loves animals, and he wants them 
to be treated mercifully. 

Some states have more domestic animals and 
some more wild ones. In some states horses have 
to do more work than in others where automobiles 
are used. Uncle Sam doesn't think that he ought 
to make laws at Washington about the treatment 
of domestic animals, but he has many state laws 
about them. These state laws are so similar and 
so fine that all horses and dogs and other beasts 

63 



64 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 




Courtesy, Am. Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 
AGENT ARRESTING A MAN FOR BEATING HIS HORSE 

at large ought to be very comfortable. The 
trouble is that every one is not familiar with 
these laws. It will be splendid for boys and 
girls to find out what their state believes is kind 
treatment for its animals. It will save the agent 
who prevents cruelty to animals a great deal of 
trouble. He has to spend much time watching 
the streets to see that the laws are kept. 

There is the faithful horse, first, who brings 
your milk in the morning, gives you a hay ride 
in the summer, and a Christmas express package. 
He isn't able to tell his master no matter how 
tired, or hungry, or thirsty he is. 

The law says to the driver: 



BEING KIND TO HIS ANIMALS 



65 



"Don't overload, or overdrive your horse, or 
beat him. He must have as much food and drink 
as he needs, and a comfortable stall somewhere. 
If you have to send him away with other horses 
and cattle to another city, see that the railroad 
takes proper care of him. He must not travel in 
a car for more than twenty-four consecutive hours 
without unloading, un- 
less overtaken by a 
bad storm. And he 
must be fed on the 
train at least every ten 
consecutive hours." 

Of course you would 
never be cruel to a 
horse, but one of your 
helps to your country 
will be to watch the 
treatment of horses in 
your town. A year's 
great harvest, and the 
huge loads of all kinds 
that must be carried to 
the freight yards and 
docks are a cruel 
strain on the horses. 
Do everything in your power to ensure kindness to 
these beasts of burden. Watch, too, to see if any 




Courtesy, Am. Society for Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals 

A HORSE OUGHT TO BE MADE 
COMFORTABLE 



66 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

one is driving a lame or sick horse, or a horse 
that has sores under his harness. 

The way in which your dumb friends are car- 
ried is also watched and regulated by the state 
laws. It is cruel to carry chickens, geese, and 
turkeys head downward, locking their wings, tying 
them together by the legs, or overcrowding them, 
A turtle should not be carried on its back. Newly 
hatched chickens should not be transported to be 
killed and stuffed for toys and favors. Calves 
should not be carried, crowded together, so that 
they are uncomfortable. 

Animals have always had such a large share in 
our sport that the states want to be sure there 
is no cruelty done them, even in play. Any one 
who allows dogs or roosters to fight each other 
is liable to be punished. 

Traveling animals, such as monkeys with the 
hurdy-gurdy man, or dancing bears., or trained ani- 
mals that perform in circuses, are entitled to good 
treatment by their masters. 

A bear, heavy and lumbering on his legs, was 
dancing in the streets of New York one ' day. He 
grew tired and dropped down on all fours and 
his master stuck his knife into the bear's nose 
to make him get up again. A policeman happened 
to see the cruel act, and the man was fined and 
the bear taken where it could have good care. 



BEING KIND TO HIS ANIMALS 



67 



No harm may be done an elephant that per- 
forms for us, or parades in the streets. In his 
native India or Africa 
the elephant draws 
heavy loads, is tireless 
in his work, and can 
be trained to be almost 
human in his help to 
man. It would not be 
right to ill treat him 
when he comes to a 
strange land to give us 
pleasure. 

Uncle Sam likes 
dogs just as much as 
you do, and perhaps a 
little bit more, for his 
towns take care of the 
stray ones, even. Al- 
most every town has its dog pound where the all- 
alone dog with no home, the lost dog, and the one 
with no dog license are kept. They may be claimed. 
If they are sick, or hurt, or no one wants them, they 
are humanely cared for. The law demands that 
there shall be fresh air, and plenty of water and 
food in the dog pounds, and the dogs must be 
properly sheltered from the weather. No boy 
wants his dog to be taken to the pound, though. 




Brown Bros., N. Y. 

DO NOT ABANDON AN ANIMAL IN 
THE STREET 



Qg WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Help animals in another way, by getting your 
new dog license if your state demands one, very 
promptly. 

The town must be kept a safe place for the 
domestic animals that live in it. It is not right 
to leave poison about for cats and dogs, or to 
abandon a horse, a dog, or a cat that is diseased 
or dying. This is not only cruel to the animal 
itself but puts other animals in danger. Watch, 
too, for any person who drops glass, nails, pieces 
of metal, or any substance that might wound or 
injure an animal on the public roads. 

There are certain special relations of children 
to animals that the Government of your state 
would like you to remember. You have seen the 
fire engine, drawn by the swiftest, most beauti- 
ful horses in the town, go dashing up your street. 
You have seen the ambulance, too, whirling by 
as it carries some sick or wounded person to 
the hospital. Many cities have special ambulances 
for injured animals in which they are taken to 
the veterinary hospital. A boy likes to see these 
ambulances pass, or to follow them closely on 
his wheel. Uncle Sam would rather not have you 
do this. He even goes so far, in some states, as 
to say that it is against the law to get in the way 
of a fire engine or an ambulance. 

In some of the parks that are laid out so beau- 



BEING KIND TO HIS ANIMALS 69 

tifully for boys and girls to have a good time in, 
there are fish ponds. Swans and rare varieties 
of ducks swim here, and make their nests among 
the reeds. Gold fish dart .about in the water, 
just as they do in the fairy gardens of Japan, 
and other fish live here and grow tame. These 
are public water pets, and should not be caught. 
The law protects fish also in a pond on private 
grounds, if they have not come there by way of 
any public stream or lake. These wild neigh- 
bors of ours should have places of their own 
away from the crowds and the street cars. 

" Don't kill or wound, or hurt any bird, deer, 
squirrel, rabbit, or any other animal," the law 
tells boys and girls, " within the limits of a pleasure 
ground or public cemetery. Don't take away the 
animal's young, or birds' eggs, or sell, or "know- 
ingly buy any birds or animals that have been 
so taken." 

After dark there is still much to do out in the 
streets for our dumb creatures. Your town is 
putting lights on automobiles and trucks and watch- 
ing to see if the trains are lighted and the sig- 
nals flash. We must hang red lights over holes 
and broken places in the road. The faithful horse 
who takes his plodding way home through the 
night must not be exposed to any unnecessary 
dangers. Is the lantern lighted in the road in 



70 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

front of your house where the men were dig- 
ging this afternoon? Go out and see before you 
go to bed, and make up your mind that, in these 
little ways of helping, you are going to hold Old 
Glory over every helpless animal that you can. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How do horses help in the work of your town? 

2. What care does a truck horse need to keep him com- 
fortable and useful? 

3. Have you seen any traveling animals ; monkeys, bears, 
elephants, or other circus animals in your town? "What 
care should each of these be given by their trainer? 

4. Does the law say that your dog should have a license ? 
If it does, where and how will you get the license? 

5. How can boys and girls keep the streets safe for 
animals ? 

6. * Are there any public watering troughs in your town ? 
If there are, where are they located? 

7. What kindness can you show public pets in parks? 
What notices have you seen posted by the park zoo, the 
deer preserve, or the fish pond? 

8. Is there an office of the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals in your town? If there is, ask 
there for a copy of the state laws in regard to animals in 
the streets for your class. 

9. Make a scrap book of pictures that show good and 
humane treatment of animals. Each child in your class 
might bring one picture. 



CHAPTER VIII 
KEEPING HIS HOLIDAYS 

All holidays are alike, you thought. Every 
one is a day for having a good time, and you 
never stop to think why the banks are closed 
on certain holidays and not on others, and why 
there is a parade on Washington's Birthday, and 
none on New Year's Day. 

Ask your Uncle Sam about it. He knows a 
great deal in regard to our Nation's holidays. 
And the reason for this is that he established 
most of them. After he had finished the great 
work of founding this Republic of the United 
States, he decided that he would like to cele- 
brate certain of its important events with great 
doings on certain days. So he set apart these 
days as his own holidays, some national, and 
some state holidays. He closes the public build- 
ings where labor is employed on those dates, and 
also closes the school doors. He wants boys and 
girls to be free to play, but he would be very 
much pleased if they would do something to help 
him keep his own special holidays. Each one of 
them is different, he tells us, and gives children 
an opportunity for a different kind of celebration. 

71 



72 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

It seldom happens that the birthday of an 
important person is celebrated during his life 
time and for almost one hundred and fifty years 
afterward, but that was what Uncle Sam did 
for George Washington, the first President of 
the United States. News that his birthday was 
to be a national holiday came to General Wash- 
ington at his winter quarters in New York State 
before he had defeated the British, and he was 
greatly pleased at the honor. When he was 
made President, his birthday was kept instead of 
that of the English King, and we have been keep- 
ing it as a holiday ever since. 

Washington 's birthday is also celebrated in Alaska, 
Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. 

You will want to see Uncle Sam's soldiers parade 
on Washington's Birthday. And be sure that your 
flag, with thirteen red and white stripes and forty- 
eight stars, is flying to show the growth of the 
Union since President . Washington's time. Get 
a good book of Colonial stories from the library 
to read on this holiday that you may compare 
your pleasures and comforts with the few that 
were given the children of the original thirteen 
states. And if your mother put up some cher- 
ries last summer, perhaps she will make you a 
cherry pie. Whether or not little George Wash- 
ington cut down his father's cherry tree, it is 



KEEPING HIS HOLIDAYS 



73 




Photo by Paul Thompson 

A SCHOOL PAGEANT. GENERAL WASHINGTON SATING GOOD 
BYE TO HIS SOLDIERS 

a good thing to associate cherries with this holi- 
day. Along with them, comes Washington's mes- 
sage to boys and girls : 

"Be True!" 

Fourth of July is one of Uncle Sam's oldest 
holidays, too. He very seldom makes a mistake, 
but he did for a great many years in letting chil- 
dren keep this independence day by making a 
noise with combustibles and by hurting each other. 
One July Fourth Uncle Sam found out that in 



74 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

more than eighty of his cities an average of sev- 
eral thousand of his young Americans were being 
killed* and injured, so he decided to keep the 
Fourth in a new way. This year we will celebrate 
not only the independence of our Nation, but our 
freedom from the dangers of toy cannon and giant 
fire crackers. Buy a flag instead of a pistol. 

When your grandfather was a boy, he went to 
the village park to hear some important man of 
the town read our wonderful Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Then the band played patriotic airs, and 
there were games, and refreshments for the chil- 
dren. Uncle Sam thinks that was a fine way to 
celebrate the Fourth of July, and he wants you 
to go back to this kind of celebration in America 
to-day. 

Four hundred years after the brave Christopher 
Columbus discovered the islands off the shore of 
America, Uncle Sam decided that Columbus' brav- 
ery ought to be recognized by keeping the anni- 
versary of the discovery as a national holiday, 
because, without Columbus' bravery, there might 
not have been any Land of the Free. Our Presi- 
dent, Benjamin Harrison, issued Uncle Sam's 
proclamation about this new holiday. He said: 

"Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, Presi- 
dent of the United States of America, in pursuance 
of the aforesaid anniversary of the discovery of 



KEEPING- HIS HOLIDAYS 75 

America by Columbus, recommend the same as 
a general holiday for the people of the United 
States. On that day let the people, as far as 
possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to 
such exercises as may best express honor to the 
discoverer and their appreciation of the great 
achievements of the four completed centuries of 
American life." 

That tells you how to celebrate Columbus Day. 
Your class at school may plan a pageant, repre- 
senting our important American inventions. You 
may read some stories about how the first steam- 
boat, the first locomotive, the telephone, the cable, 
the telegraph, the first automobile, and the first 
aeroplane came to be. If you ask in the public 
library, the librarian will be very glad to set 
out a shelf full of books about American inven- 
tions t and progress for Columbus Day reading. 
They are more exciting than fairy tales, and true. 

There is a great deal that children can do to 
help Uncle Sam keep Labor Day. He is prouder 
of honest work than he is of any of the Nation's 
wealth. Do some extra work yourself to help some 
worker rest on Labor Day. Order the groceries, 
the meat, and the vegetables early the day before 
and carry them home so that the clerks and deliv- 
ery men will have less to do. See that your yard 
and sidewalk are clean, and no rubbish is left 



76 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

over for the street cleaners to gather on the holi- 
day. And help all that yon can at home, so that 
your mother and father may have a restful Labor 
Day. The greatest work of the world is done in 
the homes where American boys and girls are 
being brought up to be good American citizens. 
You can help to lighten this work. 

Uncle Sam doesn't want to admit that he likes 
one of his holidays more than another, but Thanks- 
giving Day is really his favorite one. We know 
this because he is always so mysterious about 
announcing it every year. We never know when 
it is coming. 

"Suppose there shouldn't be any Thanksgiving 
this year; I haven't told you when it will fall?" 
Uncle Sam says. 

But every November, without fail, Uncle Sam 
has the President of the United States issue a 
proclamation to be read in your church, telling 
you that you may keep Thanksgiving on the last 
Thursday of November. This proclamation doesn't 
say a word about eating turkey and pumpkin pie. 
General Washington's Thanksgiving proclamation, 
in 1789, began : 

"Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to 
acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to 
obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits — now, 
therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, 



KEEPING HIS HOLIDAYS 77 

the twenty-sixth day of November, to be a day of 
Thanksgiving. ' ' 

Uncle Sam has not varied much from this form 
of Proclamation since Washington's time. He 
wants you to go to church on Thanksgiving Day. 
He would like you to make somebody thankful, 
through ,your kindness, even if it is only a stray 
dog who needs a bone, or an old truck horse whose 
checkrein you loosen so he can get a drink. 
When you reach home, the turkey and pumpkin 
pie will be waiting there for you. 

For a long time Washington's Birthday was 
the legal holiday when flags were raised from all 
public buildings. But Uncle Sam grows to love 
the Stars and Stripes more deeply every year. 
June 14, 1894, he celebrated his first Flag Day which 
has been one of our National holidays ever since. 

The Pilgrims sailed to America under the Eng- 
lish flag, red, white and blue, but with its bars 
crossed in the center, and having no stars. For 
a while the colonists of New England used a red 
flag with a green pine tree on a white ground 
in the corner. Then they put in thirteen red 
and white stripes . and the British colors in the 
corner. But Uncle Sam's present flag was made 
in Washington's time. It was like our present day 
flag except that it had only thirteen white stars 
in a circle on the blue field. 



IH 



78 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Flag Day will be a good holiday for you to try 
and make one of each of these flags and hang them 
out with Old Glory. You may learn one of our 
beautiful flag poems, and you and the other boys 
and girls, may meet to sing the National airs that 
have been written about the flag. 

The most wonderful thing about Uncle Sam is 
his tolerance. He goes all over the Union from 
state to state and tries to feel just as the people 
he meets in each state feel. He tries to put himself 
in their places. When he is in the North he 
waves the Stars and Stripes on the birthday of 
Abraham Lincoln, our country's beloved martyr. 
When he is in the South Uncle Sam recognizes 
as state holidays the birthdays of the two great 
leaders of the Confederacy, Robert E. Lee, and 
Jefferson Davis. He wishes both the North and 
the South, though, to keep Memorial Day, on May 
30, and parade in honor of our brave armies of 
the Blue and the Gray. 

In many states Arbor Day is celebrated and 
the children keeping it have planted over three 
hundred and fifty millions of trees and vines that 
will help make the United States beautiful, and 
supply building material, and food. In New Eng- 
land, LTncle Sam remembers the farmers of Lex- 
ington and celebrates their Revolutionary bravery 
on Patriots ' Day, April 19. Election Day is a 



80 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

legal holiday, but the Government is so busy then 
that you can help most by staying quietly at home. 
Wherever you are on one of these National holi- 
days you can be pretty sure of keeping it in the 
right way if you follow Uncle Sam's example. 
Celebrate the National event it stands for so well 
that you and the other boys and girls will remem- 
ber it for a whole year. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. In which months of the year do we have holidays 
and what are they? 

2. Which are our legal holidays? 

3. What great event in our country does each of* these 
holidays celebrate : Washington 's Birthday ; Columbus Day ; 
Flag Day; Fourth of July; Patriots' Day. 

4. Why do we keep Labor Day; Arbor Day? 

5. Make a holiday chart by writing down the names 
and dates of the holidays that your state keeps. Write 
beside each holiday one good way in which you can keep it. 

6. If the public library is open on a holiday, go to it 
and look at the special books and pictures that have been 
put out in honor of the day. 



CHAPTER IX 
HELPING HIS DEPENDENT FAMILY 

Sometimes there is one child in a family who 
is not able to take care of himself. This child 
may be blind, or lame, or ill, and so his mother 
takes twice as much care of him as she does of 
the other children, and his father tries to earn 
more money so that he can support this child 
when he grows up. 

Most of Uncle Sam's children are like you, well 
and strong, and studying hard in school so that 
they may become wage earners when they finish. 
But there are some members of Uncle Sam's family 
who are different. Something has happened to them 
so that they are dependent. Uncle Sam, through 
his town, and city, and state governments is tak- 
ing just as good care of these dependent chil- 
dren of his as do the parents of a helpless boy 
or girl. 

There is a group of buildings just outside of 
your town that you seldom think about, and never 
visit. There is a big dormitory full of small 
white beds, there is a small school, and there are 
gardens where boys and girls of your own age, 
and just like you except that they are dressed 

81 



82 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

all alike, can be seen planting and harvesting. 
These are Uncle Sam's children, the orphans, 
dependent upon the public for support, not through 
any fault of their own, but because they have 
no fathers and mothers. 

In almost every town there is an orphan asy- 
lum, and there are other large buildings where 
Uncle Sam's helpless ones are housed. There is 
a large house where old people, like your grand- 
father and grandmother, sit out in the sunshine 
and talk about the days when they had homes of 
their own. There is a hospital where the sick are 
nursed, and cured. There may be a school for 
the blind where children learn to read with their 
fingers, and are taught to use their hands in 
carrying on trades by means of which they can 
earn money. Perhaps there is a Soldiers' or Sail- 
ors' Home near you in which men who are old, 
or otherwise helpless, and mustered out of Uncle 
Sam's honorable service, are made comfortable. 

Such a public home as one of these is usually 
a very well made and beautiful building. It has 
a huge kitchen to which meats, and vegetables, 
and fruits, and eggs, and milk are sent to be 
prepared for the table by trained cooks. There 
is a library of good books. Doctors and nurses 
are provided at the town's or state's expense, and 
all that can be done with public money is done 



HELPING HIS DEPENDENT FAMILY 



83 




CHRISTMAS IN THE CHILDREN'S WARD 

to make Uncle Sam's dependent children com- 
fortable and happy. 

"What is there left for boys and girls to do? 

Perhaps you noticed last Thanksgiving Day when 
yon drove by the Orphan Asylum on your way 
to grandfather's how those boys and girls who 
have no families crowded to* the gate to watch 
you pass. They were going to have turkey, and 
mashed potato, and cranberry jelly, and pumpkin 
pie for dinner just as you were going to, but 
there would be something that they would miss. 



84 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

The orphans would have no one who belonged to 
them to enjoy Thanksgiving with them. 

There is just one comfort that no amount of 
tax money can buy for Uncle Sam's dependents — 
friends. Boys and girls can try to be friendly 
to all the public charges of their community. 

Parents, and teachers, and ministers will help 
you with this neighborliness. Playgrounds, and 
the circus, and your books, and games can be 
shared with the orphans. The children who are 
getting better in the hospital wards will enjoy 
scrap-books, and toys, and plants, and wild flowers 
in their season. Old people like to be read to, 
and they enjoy music so much. Your school 
orchestra, or your chorus, or just a few boys and 
girls who play the piano or violin well can make 
a great deal of happiness for the old people. 
They will enjoy, most of all, though, your thought 
of them. 

Always, in our great cities, there are the poor to 
be thought of. Perhaps the father has no work, 
or is ill, or there may be no father and the mother 
must take his place. Try to remember these boys 
and girls at Christmas time. They want to be happy 
just as much as you do, and they ought to have a 
chance. Parties are often given for them at social 
settlements, and churches and other organizations 
distribute gifts in their homes. Sometimes there 



HELPING HIS DEPENDENT FAMILY 



85 




Photo by Paul Thompson 

KEEPING CHRISTMAS WITH UNCLE SAM AT THE POLICE 

STATION 

is a party for them at the police station. The 
police cover a Christmas tree with gifts for all the 
poor children in the neighborhood, and give an 
entertainment for them too. Uncle Sam likes to 
have you remember the poor and unfortunate mem- 
bers of his family at Christmas time. 

Uncle Sam has dependents, however, who are 
quite different from those we have described. Some 
morning when the girl housekeeper is hurrying to 
finish the breakfast dishes before school, there is a 
rap at the kitchen door. A tramp,' ragged and untidy, 



86 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

stands outside and begs for some food. He says 
that lie has no money, and has not eaten in a 
long" time. What shall this little housewife do! 
Shall she offer him the toast and the cereal that 
the family left, or just shut the door? 

Neither of these ways of treating a beggar is 
Uncle Sam's way. If the tramp has been ill, he 
needs to go to the town hospital. If he has no 
work to do and is willing to work, there may be 
an office of a charitable society in the town where 
he can be sent to get work. If he is well and 
does not want to work, he deserves no breakfast. 

Find out just what places there are in your 
town where people who are strong and able to 
work can be helped. The churches, the settle- 
ments, and the charitable societies having employ- 
ment bureaus are all ready to help beggars to 
help themselves. No money or food should be 
given, without return in the form of work, to 
anyone who can help himself or herself. 

Taking care of the orphans, the old people, 
and the ill, and the poor of the United States costs 
many millions of dollars every year. *We ought to 
try and save as much of this tax money as we can 
that it may be used for other purposes that will 
help the whole country instead of a few. 

Uncle Sam wants boys and girls to save their 
town some of its hospital bills by taking good 



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— 


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Courtesy, Playg-round and Recreation Ass'n of America 
STEALING RIDES. IS A FREQUENT SOURCE OF INJURY 




Courtesy, Playground and Recreation Ass'n of America 
A DANGEROUS PLACE TO PLAY 



88 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

care of their bodies. Catching rides on wagons, 
jumping on or off cars while they are in motion, 
sending off fireworks, crossing the street without 
looking both ways, getting in crowds, and playing 
in partly finished buildings, are the causes of 
many accidents that have to be cared for in 
public hospitals. Eating cheap candy, drinking 
from a common cup, going to see other children 
who have had a contagious disease, drinking milk 
that has been uncovered, leaving the cover off your 
garbage can, letting flies get into the house, tak^ 
ing medicine without a doctor's orders, staying up 
late at night, and sleeping with your windows 
closed, cause many of the diseases that the hos- 
pital has to cure. 

There is one more help toward growing up a 
useful member of Uncle Sam's family. Just as 
soon as a boy is old enough to go into the manual 
training room at school, or a girl into the cook- 
ing room, Uncle Sam wants this boy and girl to 
rub Aladdin's lamp. See, somewhere ahead of 
you, the home your handwork is going to help 
make for you. A boy who learns to be a car- 
penter, or an engineer, or an electrician, or a 
printer, or a farmer, or any one of the other use- 
ful tradesmen the public schools will make him, 
can earn a home. He can rent a house at first, 
and buy one, perhaps, later. He can save some 



HELPING HIS DEPENDENT FAMILY 89 




THE GIRL WHO LEARNS TO SEW IS ONE OF UNCLE SAM'S 

HOMEMAKERS 

money and when he is old he will not be a town 
charge, cared for in a public home. 

The girl who learns to cook, and sew, and take 
good care of all the furniture, and coverings, and 
cooking utensils, and dishes, and pictures, and 
books, and plants that make a home, will be 
helping to keep that home for the future. If 
she learns how to take care of the sick, and buy 
food without wasting money, and keep accounts, and 
cultivate a garden, she will be an even greater 
help in Uncle Sam's family of homemakers. 



90 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

The home that Uncle Sam wants hoys and girls 
to begin thinking and planning for, even when they 
are in school, is as large as they can possibly 
afford to build it. It has some extra rooms so 
that there will be a place for the grandmother 
and grandfather if they should need to come and 
live in it. Sometimes the town wishes to pay for 
boarding an orphan child, or a motherless baby, 
or an old person in a private home instead of in 
a public one. It would be a great help if you 
could build your home large enough to take care of 
some of these people. 

Uncle Sam would like to have you build your 
house in the country, where there is plenty of 
fresh air to breathe, and land on which to raise 
your own food. The work you do when you grow 
up may keep you in a city near a factory, or a 
mill, or a great office building. But the cities 
are very full of people now, and the country is 
a much more comfortable place in which to live. 
The railroads are doing all they can to make it 
possible for people to work in the cities and still 
enjoy the benefits of country life. 

Boys like to dig caves, and every girl loves to 
play house. Uncle Sam wants to play with you, 
helping you to make the game real, and saving 
him the care and expense of building homes for 
people himself. 



HELPING HIS DEPENDENT FAMILY 91 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How does your town take care of helpless grown peo- 
ple and children? 

2. Does your state help the town with this? 

3. How is money raised to pay for shelter and food for 
the old, the ill, and for orphans? 

4. Are there many tramps and beggars in your town? 

5. Is it better to give money and food to tramps, or 
to send them where they may work and earn? 

6. Are there any charitable societies in your town to 
which a tramp could be sent to get work? What work 
could he do to help your town; farming, railroading, on 
the dock, cutting wood, or anything else? 

7. What can you do to keep from being a public charge ? 

8. Name the trades that you can learn in or near your 
town. 

9. Describe the house that you would like to build when 
you grow up. 

10. Make ' a scrapbook, collect books and magazines, 
gather plants or flowers, or plan an entertainment for your 
orphan asylum, the hospital, or the home for old people. 



CHAPTER X 
FOLLOWING THE ROAD 

There was a blizzard in your town not long 
ago. One morning when the boys and girls woke 
up and looked out of the windows they saw a 
white town. The sidewalks and roads were white, 
without wheel tracks. No one was out, everything 
was still and cold. The town was snowed in. 

Then several things happened, because the streets 
and roads were blocked. The milk train did not 
arrive in the night as usual, and there was no 
milk. Even if there had been a fresh supply of 
milk, the milkmen could never have made their 
rounds through the snow-drifted roads. Way down 
at the end of the town a warehouse took fire. The 
fire department started, but the engine and truck 
were not able to make their way through the 
snow and the warehouse burned down. The bak- 
ers' teams could not deliver food; neither could 
the grocer's. There was no mail, and no trolley 
cars could take the men to work and the children 
to school. 

Something else happened, though, at about this 
time. Down the street came the town snow plows 
cutting a path through the drifts for the milk- 

92 



FOLLOWING THE ROAD 93 

man and the street cars. Those boys and girls 
who had sharp enough eyes to see him, discovered 
Uncle Sam behind the snow plows. The city 
took great pains and spent a great deal of money 
leveling your street and paving it, and the town 
Government believes in keeping a road open and 
in good condition once it is made. Following the 
city snow ploughs came teams and squads of men 
with snow shovels to cart ofT the snow turned 
up at the side of the road and dump it into the 
river. In a few hours the blocked roads were 
open to traffic again. 

Boys who knew their duty to the street clean- 
ing department of their town brought out their 
snow shovels and scrapers and went to work 
cleaning the sidewalks. These needed to be thor- 
oughly cleaned because a little snow, left to melt 
and freeze, on a paved walk, is more dangerous 
than packed snow. 

There was one boy, though, who thought that 
it was too cold to finish his sidewalk. He decided 
to clear only a path in the middle and let the 
rest of it go until the next day, hoping that it 
would be warmer. A pedestrian fell on the ice 
that formed on this boy's sidewalk and broke his 
leg. The town had to send an ambulance to carry 
him to a hospital, and pay a surgeon and send a 
nurse to take care of him there until he was well. 



94 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Uncle Sam needs the help of every boy and girl 
in the United States in keeping his streets safe 
and in good condition. 

When onr country was first settled there were 
no roads. The Indians made trails from one 
camp to another, and from forest to stream. Herds 
of buffalo tramped pathways for themselves, but 
these were dangerous roads for the Colonists to 
follow. Stage routes, and cow paths, and moun- 
tain trails made by wild beasts were also make- 
shifts. It took weeks to travel a distance that 
a train can cover in a few hours to-day. Gold 
from the West could not be brought East, and 
corn raised in New England could not be taken 
out West. Cotton from the South could not come 
to the North, and the North could not send iron 
for machinery South. Moving from one town to 
another took many days, and letters might come 
a month apart. 

As soon as he could, though, after he had built 
his Capitol at Washington and the people had 
elected George Y/ashington as our first President, 
Uncle Sam took to the road. He asked farmers, 
towns, and states to build good roads. We have 
been building roads and policing roads, and improv- 
ing roads, and giving trains and street cars a right 
of way ever since. This takes up a good share 
of public time and vast sums of money. 



FOLLOWING THE ROAD 95 

Many different kinds of material are used in 
making a road. The road bed, first, is a most 
important consideration, and must be level, hard, 
and smooth. Then the road itself is built of 
logs," paving stones, wood blocks treated with tar, 
or macadam. Every child, at one time or another, 
has had the fun of watching and following a 
steam roller. Like a huge, black dragon spitting 
out tongues of fire, the steam roller drives over 
a half -made roadway, and leaves it white and 
hard. Uncle Sam, through the town or state 
Government, is driving the steam, roller, and as 
he shovels coal into it and guides it, he is think- 
ing of the great things that a new road is going 
to do for his people. 

The farmers will drive into the town over it, 
carrying apples, and grain, and eggs, and meat. 
The rural free delivery postman will take letters 
and, perhaps, some games, and a pair of new 
rubber boots, and a new book from the city store 
to the country home. The girl or boy on the farm 
who was very lonely can ride over a fine state road 
to a distant farm where there may be another lonely 
girl or boy, and they can play together. The crip- 
pled boy, who could not go to school before, rides 
in an omnibus that the city sends for him over this 
good road to the schoolhouse. 

The road that your town or state builds helps, 



96 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

too, with the work of the world. It takes men 
quickly to the factories, the mills, the mines, the 
wharves, and the farms. Fast trains over good 
roads take the work of these men's hands to every 
state in the Union. 

Our roads are strong enough to carry automo- 
biles and heavy trucks, tons of coal, and countless 
barrels of flour, barrels of potatoes, masses of 
copper, and gold, and lead, and silver, and iron, 
bales of cotton, sacks of mail, express wagons 
loaded with Christmas gifts, and everything else 
that is needful for the life and happiness of the 
big United States family. 

All boys and girls like to be out in the street 
part of the time. But they often forget that 
Uncle Sam is there with them, and they thought- 
lessly undo the great work the town's good roads 
are doing. 

"Follow the road with me, young American," 
Uncle Sam says, "but help me to keep it a good 
road." 

In the winter you can help by cleaning your 
sidewalk after every storm. There is usually a 
city ordinance that compels a property owner 
to do this, and it costs a good deal to enforce 
this law, A group of boys might form a snow 
cleaning squad and shovel sidewalks where there 
is no one to do it, for a small sum. This will 




tmtm 



m 



98 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

be a splendid help for the street cleaning de- 
partment. 

In the summer keep the grass in good condition 
and well cut along the edge of the curbing. The 
grass growing around the letter box on the cor- 
ner often is tramped down so that it dies. New 
turf may be put in, and will be one sign that you 
are helping the Government to keep the streets 
beautiful as well as safe. Loose papers should 
be picked up and put in the paper cans. The 
country boy can make a road drag, and ask his 
boy neighbors to help him use it. A split log 
makes a good one, and if it is used after every 
rain, just as the road is beginning to dry, it will 
make a smooth, hard bed. Using such a drag is 
very important on a dirt road. It serves to make 
the road slope away from the center, which gives 
it good drainage. 

The greatest help that boys and girls can give 
in the streets is in keeping them safe. Anything 
which blocks traffic is very dangerous. Try to 
keep out of a crowd. Don't attempt to run across 
the road in front of teams. Always look both 
ways before you cross. 

It is usually unsafe to play ball or tag in the 
street, and in. some cities there are laws against 
it. This makes Uncle Sam sorry, though, for he 
believes in play. In some of the large cities the 



FOLLOWING THE ROAD 



99 




Courtesy, West Chicago Park Commissioners 
A PUBLIC PLAYGROUND IS SAFER THAN THE STREET 

city officials have set apart certain blocks as play 
streets. These are roped off to traffic after school 
for two hours, and policemen are on duty to keep 
them free for playing ball, roller skating, and 
games. Almost every city has one or more pub- 
lic playgrounds. Play in these, if you have no 
yard at home, instead of on the street. 

One use of our good roads is to provide us 
with pleasure trips. Special cars run to the 
beaches, to the parks, to the zoos, and to the ball 
grounds. 

Don't push when you board a car. Let old 
people and mothers with little children get on 
first. Give place to girls next. Learn to get off 



100 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

a car facing forward instead of backward, and 
always wait until the car stops. 

It is also important for yon to know where your 
nearest fire alarm box is, and how to give the alarm. 

Who is going to do all these things, and be 
Uncle Sam's right hand man on the road? 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Name the most important street in your town. 

2. Where does it begin? Where does it end? 

3. Find out, if you can, how that street started when 
your town was first settled. W^as it a cow path, a road 
along a river, a trail through the woods, or a path to a 
farm or a mill? 

4. Compare this main street with what it was long ago. 
Of what materials is it made? How is it lighted? What 
kinds of cars run through it? What important buildings 
have been built on it, and why ? What pipes and wires are 
underneath it? 

5. Are there any unsafe streets in your town ; and why 
do you think they are unsafe? 

6. What does your town street department do to keep 
the streets safe and clean? 

7. Is there a city ordinance telling property owners 
how to care for their sidewalks? 

8. What can you do to help in keeping the streets 
clean ? 

9. What games do the children of your neighborhood 
play in the street? Is this safe play? 



CHAPTER XI 
TAKING CARE OF HIS GIFTS TO YOU 

Uncle Sam believes that it is just as much a 
public work to make people happy as it is to 
guard them or feed them. The United States 
would be a pretty poor place to live in if there 
were no parks, or art galleries, or libraries, or 
museums. Nearly every town has one or all of 
these, supported by public money. In them boys 
and girls may have a good time and learn a great 
deal, too, without expense. 

You run down to the library after school because 
you want very much, indeed, to take out that new 
book of adventure the boy next door was read- 
ing last week. There it is. The librarian stamps 
your card. The splendid story and its many pic- 
tures are yours for two whole weeks. Getting 
the book was so simple a matter that you did not 
stop to think of the work of the Government that 
stands behind the library. 

Someone wrote the book, first of all, and because 
it is such a fine story that it needs protection. 
Uncle Sam copyrighted it. Every newspaper, book ? 
map, photograph for publication, and piece of music 
is taken care' of in this way by the United States 

101 



102 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Government at Washington. The name, the author, 
and the name of the publisher are sent to the 
copyright department with the very small sum of 
one dollar, and two copies of the matter. Then 
Uncle Sam registers it as his own, and it is safe 
from being copied. He keeps all this material in 
a special library at Washington, at a very great 
cost. He has over a million books. There are 
many hundred thousand pieces of music, thousands 
of maps, and engravings, and etchings, too, that 
he is protecting there. 

Some of the books are not bound; they are in 
sheet form. For these the government has steel 
lined cases and, in addition, a staff of people to 
keep the papers in repair. These library assistants 
press the creases out of the paper sheets, patch 
holes or tears in them, trace the text over if the 
ink grows dull, and keep great catalogues of them 
all. 

You received your library book very quickly, 
did you not? Uncle Sam helped to arrange the 
library card system ; that is the reason why you 
did not have to wait for your book. Before the 
Government helped with card cataloguing it cost 
about thirty cents to put a book in a card filing 
system. Now there are scores of catalogue clerks 
at Washington who make your library cards, with 
the name of the book, the author, and the shelf 




K & 



104 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

number on them at the small post of about half 
a cent a card. In addition to these the Gov- 
ernment has other helpers, called bibliographers, 
who read all the new books and make lists of 
those published on a certain subject. There are 
other Government librarians who plan the sim- 
plest possible arrangement of books on shelves 
so that there will be little delay in getting them. 
Some of our state librarians box books in sets 
and send them out as traveling libraries to farms 
or small settlements that lie far away from a 
public library. 

All this work is hidden between the covers of 
your library book. What is your work for Uncle 
Sam in connection with it? Be just as careful 
as you can of every book that the library lets 
you borrow. Keep it clean. Do not fold over the 
pages or mark them. And be sure to return the 
book to the library when your card says that it 
is due. 

Uncle Sam believes in making collections of 
objects that help us to remember history, and the 
wonders of the world. He searches all, over the 
earth for such objects and he has so many that 
they overflowed his x)wn special museum at Wash- 
ington. So Uncle Sam built a new museum at 
Washington that will hold everything new which 
he collects for the next fifty years. 




Brown Bros., N. T. 
LEARN ALL YOU CAN IN THE PUBLIC MUSEUM 



106 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

The Vorth-while inventions that the Government 
has patented are kept and shown in model form 
at Washington. You may see models of the first 
American steam engine, the first steamboat, the 
first telephone, the first automobile, and the first 
aeroplane there. One sees other interesting col- 
lections, too, models of new ships from the Navy 
Department, fish, fishing nets, and hatcheries that 
the Fish Commission has prepared, and wax sol- 
diers made by the War Department and dressed 
in all styles of uniforms. 

Your town museum of natural history is filled 
with similar objects. It may have a room show- 
ing how other peoples live, or one where you may 
look at birds. There is a collection of grains, 
of wool, cotton, and linen, and an old spinning 
wheel that a Pilgrim mother long ago used. The 
museum has a suit of armor worn by a knight 
in the days your story books tell about, and the 
guns that saved your land in the time of the 
Eevolution. 

Every boy and girl can help with these col- 
lections of interesting objects. Learn all that you 
can about them. You would not think of marring 
anything in your museum, or scratching the walls 
or furnishings, or tracking in dirt. Uncle Sam 
needs you to help keep order and neatness wher- 
ever such gifts are shown to the public. 



TAKING CARE OF HIS GIFTS TO YOU 107 

There would be very little space for America 
to play, if it were not for the Government. A 
good deal of the land is controlled by real estate 
companies who sell it to whoever can afford to 
buy enongh for a store, or a factory site, or a 
home. But Uncle Sam puts his hands deep down 
in his pockets and takes out a good many millions 
of dollars. This he spends for land and trees, and 
for planting grass and shrubs and more trees, for 
laying out artificial lakes and swimming pools, 
and housing deer and bears and wild birds com- 
fortably in Zoos. The Government's National parks 
are among our great public land works. There 
are almost one hundred and seventy-five national 
forests. Camps of rangers live in them from May 
until October and guard them from fire, from- 
over grazing by cattle, and from men cutting down 
trees. In these forests the deer and the wild fowl 
are safe, and the native woods are preserved. 

It costs more money than we can count to take 
care of the public lands, including the national 
forests and the parks. As most of this expense 
is included in upkeep, boys and girls can help 
the Government by not scattering litter in the 
town parks, not destroying grass, shrubs, or the 
bark of trees, and by telling other children how 
valuable these public lands are, and watching for 
forest fires. 



108 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Every day in school many boys and girls receive 
gifts that would cost a great deal if they were 
obliged to buy them. In the days of our grand- 
mothers and grandfathers it was necessary to go 
to the village store to buy slates, readers, spell- 
ing books, copy books, and pens. Now there are 
great supply rooms in connection with many pub- 
lic school systems, especially in the larger cities, 
that are filled with a store of the things that 
make school so pleasant a place. There are pads 
of all kinds and sizes, story books, pencils of lead 
and in colors, paints, wood for making toys and 
tools with which to make them, cooking utensils, 
and even foods to use in learning how to cook. 

Many public schools have blocks, dolls, games, 
balls, and picture books for the kindergarten chil- 
dren. Some schools supply materials for learning 
such trades as printing, dressmaking, millinery, car- 
pentry, farming, tinsmithing, plumbing, electricity, 
telegraphy, and even banking to the older boys and 
girls. 

The town has to buy these materials. In some 
large cities it is necessary to have motor trucks in 
which to haul school supplies, and fire engines to 
keep them safe. 

If you and the other children will take care 
of these gifts you will save the Government a 
great deal of expense. 



TAKING CARE OP HIS GIFTS TO YOU 109 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Where can you learn something and have a good 
time in your town free? 

2. Has your town any or all of these: a public park, 
a zoo, a public library, a museum of natural history? 

3. If you want a certain book of stories, how can you 
find it by means of the library catalogue without asking 
the librarian to get it for you? 

4. What does it say on your library card? 

5. Name as many interesting objects as you can that 
you have seen in a museum. 

6. What posted notices have you read in a museum? 

7. What materials does the public school give you to 
use, free, in one day? 

8. How can you save public school money in the way 
you use each of these materials? 

9. Try to do something to keep your school materials 
in good condition ; cover some of the books, put new labels 
on the collections, clean and put in order the material 
closets, or sharpen the pencils carefully. 



CHAPTER XII 
USING MONEY IN THE BEST WAY 

Watching Uncle Sam make the money that we 
use in the United States is like living inside a 
story from the Arabian Nights. 

It starts in the deep cavern of some dark mine 
where miners, wearing lamps in their caps, and 
working long hours with picks and shovels dig 
up the precious gold and silver that make our 
coins. 

The ore is then sent to the United States mint 
which is nearest the part of the country where 
it was mined. The mints are at Philadelphia, New 
Orleans, San Francisco, Denver, and Carson City. 
The mints at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Den- 
ver really coin money. The others prepare the gold 
and silver for coinage. 

Every boy and girl has read and been thrilled 
at some time by the old fairy tale of Eumpel- 
stiltskin. He was an ugly little dwarf who kept 
a beautiful princess imprisoned in a room full 
of straw and chaff until she was able to separate 
the straw from the chaff and spin it into gold. 
Something like this fairy tale happens in the mints, 
although there is no dwarf as the task master. 

110 



USING MONEY IN THE BEST WAY m 

The first step in making a five dollar gold piece 
or a silver dollar is to purify the bullion, as the 
metal is called. It has lead and other foreign 
substances mixed with it as it comes from the 
mines, which must be melted out. 

After this the gold is hardened by being mixed 
with other ores. Pure gold would scratch and 
bend so that a coin made of it would soon wear 
out. So Uncle Sam combines one-ninth of the 
gold's weight with silver and copper, and then 
it is shaped into huge bars, ready to go to 
one of the United States mints where coins are 
made. 

There are great metal rollers in these mints 
between which the melted bars of gold are run 
until they are pressed flat to the proper thickness 
for making a coin. This rolling process hardens 
the gold so that it must be heated again to bring 
it to the proper point for smoothing and cutting. 

The little gold coins are cut next in something 
the same way that your mother cuts out biscuits 
for supper. A round cutter is forced down on 
the rolled-out sheets of gold, and cuts them out. 
The gold that is left is heated and rolled out all 
over again, and the coins are weighed very care- 
fully. Every bit of Uncle Sam's money must be 
of a, certain standard weight, without the least 
variation. 



112 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

The last step in making .a piece of money is 
to stamp it with one of the beautiful designs 
that we know so well, an eagle, a dove, or a 
figure of liberty. This is done by means of heavy 
dies, between which the coins are placed and which 
stamp them on the upper and under sides at the 
same time. 

So Uncle Sam, the wizard, spins our gold and 
silver. 

But gold and silver pieces are very heavy to 
carry about, and so the Government keeps most 
of them in the United States Treasury and in 
the banks. To take their places for our every- 
day use, he makes bank notes, each one of which 
is his promise to pay the amount of gold or 
silver money represented by the face of the bill 
if we ask for it. 

Making paper money is almost as great a task 
as coining metals. The paper itself is a special 
kind, made by the Government with very expensive 
machinery, and having silk threads run through 
it so that it will not tear. You can see these 
threads if you look sharply at a fresh one dollar 
bill. The design to be used on a bill is engraved 
on a metal plate, one person engraving the pic- 
ture of Lincoln, or whatever portrait is used, 
and another person the lettering. There are two 
sets of these plates, one that is saved, and the 




* Brown Bros., N. Y. 

BUYING UNCLE SAM'S THRIFT STAMPS TO SAVE MONEY 



114 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

other which is inked by the printer and from 
which the bills are printed. The printed bills 
are compared very carefully with the original 
plates to see that they are all alike. They are 
then trimmed neatly, tied into bundles, and sent 
to the United States Treasury for circulation. 

A long time ago the Indians used shells for 
money. In certain out of the way corners of the 
earth to-day there are still savage tribes. Traders 
find it easier to buy goods from these people 
with jack-knives, bright ribbons, and beads, than 
with money. The English lad feels rich with a 
shilling piece for a weekly allowance, and the French 
lassie with a franc, both of which are silver coins 
different from our quarter of a dollar, but which 
are near it in value. So we come to see that 
Uncle Sam 's money is not of itself so important, 
;but gets its value from the way in which we use it. 
j Our UncTe Sam wants all the boys and girls of 
America to think, to-day, how they can do the 
most with their allowance, or the money they 
earn selling papers or doing errands? In time 
of war the United States Government asks the 
j children to open their home savings banks and 
j start their pennies and nickels moving. A penny 
shut up in a tin bank is hoarded, not saved. 
Money needs to move in order to work. How can 
you keep money moving in the right way? 



USING MONEY IN THE BEST WAY 115 

Your father earns a salary, or perhaps he has 
a farm, or a factory, or a store that pays him 
a certain amount of money every year. He does 
not keep this money in gold and silver and bills, 
but divides it and exchanges it for certain values 
that make your home, and help your town. He 
pays rent or taxes for your house. He buys food 
and clothes for you and your mother. He may 
pay a certain amount of money in taxes that help 
support the schools, the fire, police, and street 
departments. In this way your father changes 
his money for something else that is quite as 
valuable. He buys a shelter, food for supporting 
life, education, and safety. 

Boys and girls may use money in a similar 
way. Buying firecrackers means burning up money 
with no return except a noise. The same amount 
of money spent for vegetable seeds may mean 
more money in your pocket. It will surely mean 
a saving in the grocer's bills. Uncle Sam tells 
us that a loaf of bread, a book, a lead pencil, a 
shovel, or a plow represents wealth. With them 
you are ready to do something to earn more 
money than you spent in buying them. That is the 
test he wants you to make of every cent that 
you spend. 

It is important to save, but this is a very dif- 
ferent matter from hoarding. 



116 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

The extra money that your father has after 
he has paid the family's living expenses he per- 
haps puts in the bank. The bank pays him a cer- 
tain number of cents on each dollar for the use 
of this money. Boys and girls should have bank 
accounts just as soon as they can, and there are 
times when Uncle Sam asks to borrow money of 
his people for the use of which he pays. These 
are important uses of money, for it helps it to 
change hands, and be useful in many ways. And 
it is still your money and increasing a little in 
amount all the time. 

Our friends in Europe have had a fashion of 
laughing at us in the past, because we were extrava- 
gant. They said that we ate too much, and bought 
too many useless things, and were not economi- 
cal in spending our maney. It was all quite true, 
but we are changing that now. We are learning 
how to spend and save wisely. 

We ought to say to ourselves before we buy 
anything : 

"Do I need this? What is it going to do that 
will be good for me or my family! Where can 
I buy it more cheaply? Even if it does cost a 
good deal, will its use to me be of more value 
than the money? 

It is nearly always cheaper to buy sugar and 
make candy than to buy it. When you buy a 



■M 



USING MONEY IN THE BEST WAY 



117 



pound of chocolate drops you pay not only for 
the sugar and the chocolate, but you are helping 
to pay the wages of 
the candy maker, the 



packer, the rent of the 
candy shop, and the 
wages of the clerk who 
sells it to you. On the 
other hand it may be 
economy for you to 
buy an expensive bi- 
cycle. It will wear 
longer than a cheap 
one, and it will help 
you to do errands, 
get a book from the 
library quickly, get to 
school on time, and 
improve your health 
by being out of doors saving the wages of the 

., ., ., DELIVERY BOY 

a good deal. 

An expensive pair of rubbers or overshoes is 
cheaper than a pair that costs less because it will 
wear longer and keep your feet dry. If your 
fence needs painting, it is cheaper to buy a can 
of the best paint and paint it at once. If you 
leave it unpainted, the wood may decay and the 
whole fence give out. These are cases where 




Courtesy, Superintendent of 
Schools, Cook County, III. 



118 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

spending more money in the beginning means spend- 
ing less in the end. And there are so many ways 
of saving that yon can make np the extra expense 
in other purchases. 

Scout your town for a "cash and carry" butcher's 
or grocer's shop. Meat and groceries are usually 
just as good in such a shop, and cheaper because 
the shopkeeper does not have to pay boys to 
deliver, or keep a delivery wagon. Doing mother's 
errands will save money, for you take the 
place of the delivery boy. There are many ways 
of saving at home. Buy birthday and Christmas 
presents that can be used. Don't waste coal, gas, 
ice, or electric lights. Be as careful as possime 
of your clothing and of the furniture. If you 
can, have a garden with vegetables in it. Keep 
the gates, walks, and fences in repair as far as 
you can. Do everything in your power to help 
your father with his work, as that will give him a 
chance to earn more money. 

Look about your town, too, and find what made 
the wealth of its rich people. Have they used the 
water power for shipping, or for running mills? 
Have they raised certain crops that can be best 
raised on that land? Have they found the town 
a good place in which to open stores, or to build 
dwelling houses and rent them? There is always 
a reason for the beginning of wealth; some boy 



USING MONEY IN THE BEST WAY 119 

or man saw a chance to do a certain kind of 
work, and he did it better than any of his neighbors. 
That is your chance. Look for it, and find out 
what opportunities for work there are for you 
in your town. Money will be your reward, and 
when it conies to you, don't hoard it, but keep 
it moving. That is the way to build a richer 
American nation. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Name the different coins and bank-notes made by the 
United States Government. 

2. Can you describe the designs and the lettering on 
the following: a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter of a 
dollar, a half dollar, a silver dollar, a one dollar bill? 

3. What kinds of work do people do to earn money 
in your town? 

4. Name as many places as you can where money is 
spent in the town. Which of these are good, and which poor 
places for leaving money? 

5. How can you save money in your home in connection 
with food, your clothes, the furniture, the lights, the fire, 
ice, Christmas presents, candy? 

6. What can you do in your yard with your tool box, 
or gardening tools, to save money? 

7. A piano is a luxury unless one is going to take 
music lessons and learn to be a good musician. Name some 
other luxuries and tell when it would be wise to buy them. 

8. How can you save school tax money in your use of 
paper, books, desks, the treatment of the walls, the play- 



120 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

ground and gymnasium apparatus, the water, and the trees 
and shrubs in the school grounds? 

9. Have you ever earned any money? "What do you 
think you can do to earn money when you finish school ? 

10. What is a bank account? Why is it a good plan 
to put money in the bank? 

11. Here are some games to play with a box of toy' 
money : 

Count out enough money to run your house for a week. 
Divide it so as to pay the grocer, the milkman, the butcher, 
the baker, the gas man, and the rent, and see how much 
you can save out of it. 

Ask a number of the boys and girls to come to you for 
money — as the news dealer, a tax collector, a beggar, an 
agent who sells pianos for a weekly sum, a man who will 
take your coal order in July, and any others of whom you 
can think. To which of these should you give money? 

Have a store game by writing on slips of paper the names 
and prices of many things to be bought • shoes, chewing gum, 
a tooth brush, a pair of roller skates, candy, books, different 
kinds of foods, shoes, toys, and tools. Buy one of these, 
and ask your teacher to decide which child has won the 
game by spending his or her money for the greatest value. 



CHAPTER XIII 

WHEN HE BLOWS THE POSTMAN'S 
WHISTLE 

Over two hundred years ago a boy in old New 
York wanted to send a valentine to a little Colo- 
nial maid he knew in Boston. It was not like 
our valentines of to-day. He wrote her a letter 
on a large sheet of ruled paper with a quill pen 
and sifted sand over it to take the place of a 
blotter. Then he folded the paper neatly, and 
addressed it on one side and sealed it with red 
sealing wax in the shape of a heart on the other 
side. 

A man on horseback took the valentine part of 
the way to Boston, with other very important let- 
ters that he carried in a bag hung from his saddle. 
A stagecoach took the mail the rest of the way, 
but the roads were poor, and this old time mail 
carrier had to avoid Indians on the way. 

It took a month for the valentine to reach Bos- 
ton. It was almost Easter when the little Colonial 
girl broke its seal. 

Listen, there goes our postman's whistle! Wear- 
ing his United States Government uniform and 
carrying a great leather pouch the postman hurries 

121 



122 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

up to your door and rings the bell. He gives you 
a whole handful of stamped envelopes that look 
as if they held valentines. One of them is post- 
marked Boston, and the mark tells you also that 
it was posted last night. It has come to you, in 
New York, in one night. If you lived in Chicago 
it would take only two days. 

How was this magic worked! It was your Uncle 
Sam who did it. When he blows the postman's 
whistle he has a story to tell you of the wonderful 
adventures that every letter, and parcel, and maga- 
zine, and newspaper has to-day in the United 
States mail. 

He has a great many people at Washington 
working on every postage stamp before it is ready 
for you to stick it on your letter. Artists draw 
the pictures for the stamps, very large, and pho- 
tographers make them small enough to fit on a 
stamp. The lettering is very carefully drawn, 
too, and then engravers cut the design and let- 
ters on steel plates from which the stamps are 
printed. Several people are needed to run a 
stamp printing press, to ink it, clean it, put in 
and take out the paper, and count the number of 
sheets that are run through. 

Then the stamps have to be gummed, and one 
very odd thing about this part of stamp making 
is that the Government has to mix different kinds 



WHEN HE BLOWS THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE 123 

of gum for different seasons. The stamps are 
dried after gumming, looked over for spots or 
cracks, and the sheets are punched so that they 
will tear apart easily. Not long ago Uncle Sam 
decided to make books of stamps bound in card- 
board, and having oiled paper between the stamps 
so that they would not stick together. This means 
a great deal more work and the books sell for 
only a cent or two more than the same number 
of loose stamps. 

Your stamp is your letter's traveling ticket. 
Stick it on well, and drop the letter in the near- 
est post-box. Now its adventures begin. 

If you live in the country, the rural free delivery 
postman comes along in his blue cart, takes your 
letter to the post office where it is stamped with 
the name of the town, the time of leaving, and 
the date, and is sent to the mail train. The city 
letters have a more exciting start than this. New 
York, Philadelphia, and some other great cities 
shoot their mail through underground tubes, miles 
long, from the post offices to the railroad stations 
and wharves. 

Uncle Sam's mail trains are the fastest in the 
world and in time of any railroad trouble are 
always given the right of way. The mail cars 
are like small post offices, lined with letter racks, 
and piled deep with mail pouches. The mail clerk 



124 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

is one of the Government's most trusted men. 
He may have to guard millions of dollars from 
train robbers in the unsettled parts of the conn- 
try. He must always be expert in geography, 
and able to work every minute of his time when 
on duty, day or night. 

This mail clerk knows every post office on his 
route. He knows where every letter must go, 
when to start it on some other road at a junction, 
and the exact time-table of all connecting roads. 
Often a pile of fresh sacks of mail is thrown into 
his car before he has finished sorting those he 
took on at the first post o.ffice. This doubles his 
work before he reaches the next station, and it 
has to be done quickly and without a mistake. 
Uncle Sam has rigged up an iron arm that the 
mail clerk can swing out of the car to grasp 
mail sacks without the express train lessening its 
fifty miles an hour speed. Every minute counts 
when your letter is on its way. 

The mail reaches the place, next, to which it 
was addressed. It may be a great stone post 
office in a city, or the back room of a little coun- 
try store. In either of these your letter has 
the same attention. It is delivered just as quickly 
as it possibly can be. 

Our Government is making its postage stamps 
do many other things than carrying letters. The 




Brown Bros., N. Y. 
WHEN THE ADVENTURES OP YOUR LETTER BEGIN 



126 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

magazine that you look forward to receiving every 
month comes to yon for mnch less postage than 
a letter of the same bulk would. This is because 
Uncle Sam wants to educate his people, and he 
believes that a good magazine or newspaper has 
something to teach the family that takes it. Money 
and valuable papers can be sent through the mail 
safely. A money order will be issued for which 
you pay at your post office, and the amount is 
paid " to the person you send it to at his or her 
post office. A letter can have a registry stamp 
put on it; if it is lost and Uncle Sam cannot 
trace it, he will pay you its value out of his own 
pocket, up to a certain amount. 

A dozen eggs, and a hen to lay some more, a 
box of books for your school library, a pair of 
new shoes, and almost anything small that the 
country needs to send the city, or the city to 
send the country can be sent by parcel post. 
Uncle Sam will insure these packages against loss. 

What can you do to help with this huge mail 
system of the United States! 

The Government has to spend quite a good deal 
of money every year repairing and painting let- 
ter; boxes. Some boys seem to think that it is 
fun to mar the lettering and scratch the paint 
on the town letter boxes. Watch for these boys 
and tell them that a mail box is Uncle Sam's 



WHEN HE BLOWS THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE 127 

property and ought to be respected. The expense 
of cleaning and repairing post offices all through 
the country is enormous. Every boy and girl 
who is careful not to spill ink or mar woodwork, 
or drop mucilage, or scatter papers in the town 
post office is doing something helpful for the 
Government. 

Uncle Sam employs an army of special mail 
clerks who are known as blind readers. As a 
matter of fact these clerks have the sharpest eyes 
of any in the entire postal service, because 
they have to read misspelled and poorly writ- 
ten addresses. They have to try to decipher 
the address on a letter that no regular mail 
clerk could possibly read, so that it may reach 
its destination. If you write the name of a city 
and forget the state, a blind clerk must know 
in what state that city is. 

Your greatest help to Uncle Sam, postman, is 
to learn to write a good, plain hand, and address 
your letters and packages so carefully that no 
blind clerks will be needed. 

Post office business has to be learned just 
like any other business. It will make the work 
of the postman and the postmaster easier if boys 
and girls learn as much as they can about the 
Government's postal regulations. Ask your mother 
or your teacher to show you some of the important 



128 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

blanks in your post office. Bead them, and learn 
how to fill them out. There is a money order 
blank, and a registration blank, a card on which 
to put your new address for forwarding mail 
when you move, a tag for an insured parcel post 
package, and there is printed information about 
parcel post zones and the amount of postage to 
put on letters going to foreign countries. 

One more help. Don't keep the postman wait- 
ing when he whistles at your door. Eemember that 
his uniform is one of Uncle Sam's many disguises, 
and he is too busy a person to be delayed. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How is a letter delivered at your house? 

2. What happens to the letter that you drop in your 
mail box before it is put on board the nearest mail train? 

3. How would you send money; a package through the 
mail? 

4. "What notices have you seen in your post office about 
the hours of closing mails, postal savings, legal holidays, 
lost letters, first and second class postage rates ; or anything 
else? 

5. If you move to another address or go away for a 
vacation, how can you have your letters forwarded ? 

6. Describe the work of a mail clerk. 

7. How does your town connect by railway or water 
routes quickly with other large towns? 

8. What other means of quick communication have you : 
telephone, telegraph, wireless, cable, newspapers? 



CHAPTER XIV 
TAKING CARE OF HIS FLAG 

Uncle Sam is proud indeed of his American 
flag. It is a very old flag and represents a great 
deal of thought in its design and coloring. 

On the fourteenth day of June, in the year 
1777, the Continental Congress passed this reso- 
lution: "Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen 
United States be thirteen stripes alternate red 
and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white 
in a blue field, representing a new constellation.' ' 

Then there came a question as to what kind of 
a star should represent the Union. 

It is said that neither President Washington 
nor the Congress could decide this, but thought 
that a six-pointed star would be best, being easy 
to cut out. But there was a clever young seam- 
stress, Betsy Ross, who made flags in her shop 
in Philadelphia. A committee from the Congress 
went to Mrs. Ross with their flag design and she 
showed them that her woman fingers were more 
deft than theirs. She folded a piece of white 
paper and with one clip of her scissors cut it 
into the shape of a five-pointed star. 

Ever since then, although the number of stars 

129 



130 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



in our flag has been increased to keep pace with 
the growing number of states in the United States, 

the design has been 
the same. It has 
floated over battle- 
fields, and from 
battleships. It has 
been carried by old 
veterans and Boy 
Scouts. It flies 
from the school- 
house, all public 
buildings, and from 
every house in our 
land, almost, dur- 
ing war time. 

Uncle Sam wants 
each boy and each 
girl in the United 
States to have as 
large and as beau- 
tiful an American flag as possible, but he wants it 
taken care of. The way in which a flag is hung 
or carried is not a matter that can be regulated 
by law; it is a matter of good taste and senti- 
ment. But the United States Government has 
adopted certain customs in relation to the use of 
the American flag that boys and girls ought to 




House" , 

Where tfofiFstjm'erfcart f% was made, ffliladelphia,j?a. 



TAKING CARE OP HIS FLAG 131 

know and practice. This will make the flag seem 
more to be really yours than if you were care- 
less with it; and your example will help all your 
boy and girl friends to honor our colors. 

Certain regulations are observed in the United 
States Army and Navy whenever the flag is being 
raised or carried on parade, or when it is used 
in a review of soldiers and sailors. All those 
persons who have positions in military or naval 
service rise and salute at such times, and men 
are expected to raise their hats. A boy should, 
at least, do the latter when the flag is carried 
by, and observe the other respectful customs of 
the presentations of the flag. Those who are walk- 
ing should halt when the flag appears, and those 
who are seated ought to rise and stand quietly 
until the flag passes them. 

A great many of the flags that are being dis- 
played on homes are not hung as they should be 
according to the usages of the Government. The 
Army and Navy never drape a flag in the center, 
or hang it where it may touch the ground, or so 
that any one has to lean against or sit on it. 
The flag is allowed to fly freely from a staff or 
pole so that the stripes are not folded or the 
stars hidden in any way. This is the best way 
to hang your home flag. It should not be fastened 
to a window or a scaffolding. The boy who has 



132 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

studied carpentry in school can make a straight 
staff to which the flag can be fastened, and a metal 
attachment for holding the staff at an appropriate 
angle to the window sill can be bought for a 
small sum at a hardware store. 

Your upper story window is the best place to 
fly your flag because it should float above the 
heads of passers-by, and if you trim the front 
of your house or school with red, white and blue 
bunting and wish to fly a flag, too, the flag must 
be above the decoration. This unwritten law 
about keeping the American flag on top, always, 
is very important to remember when we are using 
and honoring flags of other countries. We see 
English, French, and Italian flags of all sizes 
displayed with the Stars and Stripes. Boys 
and girls put them in rows on their bicycles and 
festoon windows with them. They are draped on 
the front of automobiles and are hung with the 
American flag from the fronts of houses. 

We want to fly the flags of our friends across 
the ocean, but in doing this, the American flag 
should always be above the others, no matter how 
slight the difference in height is. You can help 
Uncle Sam by telling your friends and neighbors 
this. 

When your home flag or the flag on the school 
is hung, you and all the other children all over 




Brown Bros., N. Y. 



TAKING CARE OF HIS FLAG 



134 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

the land are very apt to think that it is up to 
stay. You feel that your cares in connection with 
it are over, but they have really just begun. 
Perhaps there is a thunder storm, or a gale of 
wind some night. You wake up to see the white 
stars soiled, or the stripes torn in ribbons. The 
United States Government takes excellent care of 
its flags, keeping their beauty fresh and undimmed. 
This will be very useful work for boys and girls 
who want to do something to help their country. 

The flag should not be displayed before sunrise, 
and should not be left out after sunset. Taking in 
and flying the flag should always be done by hand, 
as this is more respectful. At all the United States 
naval stations, at military posts, and on board war 
vessels, the flags are raised and lowered at uniform 
times. The children of a certain neighborhood might 
meet and decide upon the time when they will put 
up their flags or take them in for the night. 
Doing this all at once and together will be a fine 
kind of service and will show Uncle Sam how 
much his children think of him. 

The National flag flies officially night and day 
continuously over only three buildings in America 
— over the east and west fronts of the National 
Capitol and over the adjacent House of Repre- 
sentatives and Senate Office Buildings. 

It sometimes happens that the Stars and Stripes 



TAKING CARE OP HIS FLAG 135 

must be hung at half-mast as a sign of mourning. 
The flag should first be raised to the top of the 
pole and then lowered to position. Its place is 
a distance the width of the flag from the top 
of the pole. In taking down the colors at half- 
mast, first raise the flag to the top and then 
lower it. 

You may see American flags that look strange 
to you because of their different arrangement of 
stars. This is due to a custom that has arisen 
in the Army and Navy. There is no rule about 
it but in the large flags used in the Army, the 
stars are ordinarily arranged in the form of one 
large star. In the Navy the stars are placed in 
long straight lines. 

There is rather a strange American flag that 
is apt to puzzle boys and girls who live inland. 
It has sixteen stripes, eight red and eight white 
running up and down. There is a white field in 
the corner with the national arms in blue on it. 
This is the United States revenue flag, and is 
displayed on customs houses and on revenue cutters. 

The best flag in the world for us is the Stars 
and Stripes, so old, that our great, great, great 
grandfathers loved it, too, and so spangled with 
its stars that they crowd each other. It deserves 
all honor, and as much care and respect as every 
child in our United States can give it. This is 



136 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

what Uncle Sam wants you to learn to say about 
our colors: 

"I pledge allegiance to the American flag and to 

the Republic for which it stands; , • 
One nation indivisible, with liberty, and justice 
for all." 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Tell how our first flag, adopted by the Continental 
Congress, looked. 

2. Why did it have stripes, and why stars? 

3. How does our present flag differ from this first one, 
and how is it like it? 

4. How can you honor the flag when it passes you in 
parade ? 

5. How are you going to hang the Stars and Stripes 
on your house? 

6. Repeat the pledge of allegiance. 

7. Draw or paint the Stars and Stripes. 



CHAPTER XV 
LIFE SAVING 

There is a man in a blue uniform with silver 
buttons and wearing a big badge who stands all 
day on the street corner across from the school- 
house. It is a congested part of the city. Great 
motor trucks, express vans, automobiles, and cabs 
crowd the street. There is clanger of being run 
over in crossing the street, but every noon and 
every afternoon as the boys and girls march out 
of school, this man, the traffic policeman, clears 
the streets for them. 

He raises one hand in its white glove and not 
a vehicle may pass until he signals. Sometimes 
he stoops down to lead one of the kindergarten 
children, who is too small to keep up with the 
others, across in safety. The policeman is one of 
your best friends in the city. ' He does not use the 
big club that hangs from his side nearly so often 
as he uses his white gloved hand to help us. 

Some children think that a policeman's main 
business is to arrest some one, but he only sends 
a lawbreaker to court when he is obliged to. His 
daily work is life saving. Uncle Sam's army of 
soldiers is likely to be moved about the country 

137 



138 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 




"THE POLICEMAN IS ONE OP YOUR BEST FRIENDS" 

a good deal. It may be called to a foreign coun- 
try, to protect Americans at long range. But the 
policeman is your town soldier, always at home, 
and ready to protect the American at his own 
doorstep. 

The policeman is selected for strength and hon- 
esty. He stops runaway horses, he watches houses 
and shops at night to keep away burglars; he 
guards the street that is closed for play, he takes 
lost children home, he tells strangers how to find 
their way about a city. He knows where the fire 
alarm boxes, the employment bureaus, the library, 
the night schools, the hospitals, and the Board 



LIFE SAVING 



139 



of Health offices are. He must know every street 
in the city. Sometimes his beat, which is the dis- 
trict a policeman patrols, may include a thousand 
people that he keeps safe. If there is an accident 
the policeman calls an ambulance. If there is 
a big parade, he must help keep order on the 
sidewalk. Certain policemen must be able to ride 
a horse or a motor cycle in order to carry on 
this life saving more quickly. 

There are other soldiers of the city, too, whose 
everyday work is that of keeping the lives of boys 
and girls and everyone else safe. Down the street 
dashes the fire engine, the firemen in their red 




'DOWN THE STREET DASHES THE FIRE ENGINE' 



140 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

shirts clinging to it. They may be riding to their 
death, but they never think of that. Their busi- 
ness is to get the ladders up and the hose play- 
ing on the blazing house, and to go up into the 
flames to bring out a child who was trapped inside. 

Main Street in your town has been torn up 
lately, and you stopped to look down into the deep 
ditch the workmen have dug as you go down town. 
The men look very small, for they are working 
so far below the surface. All about them is a 
network of pipes, and tubes, and supporting beams. 
There is one man, a superintendent from the street 
department, who directs these men. A new water 
system is being laid out. Pure water for home 
and school is being piped to the city from a 
reservoir miles away. 

The superintendent is watching the work very 
carefully. A sewerage system, and pipes for gas, 
and electric wires for the telephone, telegraph, and 
electric light companies are all under the street 
where the work is being done. If one of these 
pipes should be broken or a wire cut there would 
be danger to the city. When the work is finished, 
the street department has the street paving — asphalt, 
wooden blocks, paving stones, or macadam — 
replaced so that the roadway will be safe again. 
Then the street cleaner, dressed in white and 
wheeling his little cart, goes up and down the 



LIFE SAVING 141 

street again. He collects rubbish that would cause 
disease if it were not carted away. 

At the end of some towns, where there is plenty 
of fresh air and space, stands the great quarantine 
station. A child or a grown person who is too 
ill with scarlet fever, or measles, or diphtheria 
to be cared for at home may be cured in this 
hospital. Nurses and doctors in white who are 
brave enough to face the danger of these diseases 
work over sick children there day and night. They, 
and the school nurse who watches the health of 
boys and girls, are other soldiers who keep the 
lives of Uncle Sam's children safe. 

They will be very glad to have your help and 
so will Uncle Sam, for there is no more important 
service than the protection of human life. 

Boys and girls can do a great deal to make 
the work of the policeman lighter. If you cross 
streets carefully, and keep out of crowds, and do 
not push when there is a parade, and help little 
children and old people in the street, and avoid 
rights, you will be a great help to the police 
department of your town. Find out all that you 
can about the location of important buildings, 
where the different car lines run, and the names 
and the directions of the streets. In this way you 
can be junior policemen, and direct strangers. 

The fire department needs the help of every 



142 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

boy and girl in the town. This help begins at 
home. You should be very sure that a lighted 
match has gone out before you throw it away, 
that no gas is escaping anywhere in the house, 
that you have not left a bonfire smouldering, and 
that the fire in the open fireplace does not glow 
when you leave it for the night. Do not light a 
fire in a stove with kerosene, and put all hot ashes 
or oily rags in a metal can. Never build a bonfire 
near a wooden fence or a frame building. Learn 
the number of your fire alarm and how to send it 
in. Eemember just where some large pails are and 
the nearest water taps to use, in case of a fire at 
home, before the firemen come. 

The first thing that a boy or girl ought to do 
at an entertainment or a motion picture show 
in a public hall is to look around and see where 
the big red signs that mark the exits are. In 
case of fire walk, not run, to the exit nearest your 
seat. Many schools have such exits, and all chil- 
dren can learn to go through a fire drill as if 
they were real firemen, taking their way through 
smoke and flames. 

The street department needs you, too. It needs 
your work in keeping your sidewalk clean, and 
your garbage can clean and covered. Do not scat- 
ter rubbish, or tamper with the street water hyd- 
rants. The fire hose is attached to these hydrants. 



LIFE SAVING 



143 




Photo by Social Press Ass'n, N. T. 
A DANGEROUS PLACE FOR YOUR BONFIRE 

The street department and the fire department 
work together in fighting a fire. Stopping the 
water flow would endanger lives. 

In some of our larger cities where there is a 
great deal of traffic the street cleaning depart- 
ment works at night. When you are asleep, men 
with huge street brushes made of reed and mounted 
on a two-wheeled frame drawn by horses, go up 
and down. When the street is thoroughly brushed, 
other cleaners follow, and wash the roads with 
the fire hose. In the morning the street is white 
and ready for the town's breakfast to be brought 
in by the bakers, the milkmen, and the fruit carts. 



144 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Why not brush and wash your sidewalk to make 
it as clean as the street in the morning? 

The school nurse will tell you that a great 
deal of illness among boys and girls might be 
prevented if they did not use common drinking 
cups. A child who is developing measles drinks 
in the school basement and then offers her cup 
to another child. The second child, in using the 
cup, may take the measles. Paper cups are very 
cheap now, and it will be a good plan to keep 
a supply in your desk at school. In many schools 
and public buildings there are drinking fountains, 
but even these need to be used carefully. Do not 
touch the metal with your lips, and try not to 
waste the water. 

Perhaps you never thought how everyday things 
to do, such as these, help Uncle Sam. They pro- 
tect the lives of his citizens and make America the 
safe, clean country that he wants it to be. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. What people in uniform work for your town? 

2. What does your police force do to save life; the 
firemen ; the street department, the Board of Health, the 
public school nurse? 

3. Describe the special uniform worn by these workers. 

4. What can one boy or one girl do to help a police- 
man, a street cleaner, or a school nurse ? 



LIFE SAVING 145 

5. If a fire broke out in your house, or at an enter- 
tainment, what would you do first? 

6. Where is your nearest fire alarm box ? How is the 
alarm sent in? 

7. Have you seen any dangers to public safety in your 
neighborhood or home that you can remedy; uncovered 
garbage, inflammable rubbish, exposed gasoline or oily rags, 
or insufficient water supply? 

8. Indicate on a map of your town any danger spots 
that the town government is protecting. You might use 
blue dots for police protection, red dots for fire protection, 
and white for safeguards to public health, such as the Board 
of Health office, milk stations, if any, hospitals, and the 
schools that a nurse visits. 



CHAPTER XVI 
KEEPING YOUR TOWN BEAUTIFUL 

When your cousin from another state comes to 
visit you this spring the first thing" you will do 
will be to take him for a Saturday afternoon 
walk in the park. The grass is green and there 
is a large field set apart for playing ball. The 
fountain plays into a basin where there are dart- 
ing gold fish, and at one end of the park is a 
zoo with caged bears, and lions, and a deer pre- 
serve. Everywhere in the park are stately old 
trees, and beds of bright flowers. On the way 
home from the park you will take your cousin 
across the new stone railroad bridge and show 
him the town hall with its gilded weather vane. 

"What a beautiful place to live in!" your cousin 
exclaims when you reach home. 

But your town was not always so sightly as it 
is now. Many years ago it began to be a town 
in a very plain, useful kind of way. Its first 
building was a farmhouse, or a sawmill, or a 
gristmill. Then the farmer or the miller had so 
much work to do that he was obliged to hire some 
helpers, and these workmen built homes for them- 
selves. They liked to be neighborly and visit each 

146 



KEEPING YOUR TOWN BEAUTIFUL 147 

other, so they built their houses on the same road. 
That was the beginning of Main Street in your town. 

There were children in these houses and they 
needed clothing, and food, and schooling. A shoe- 
maker, and a tailor, and a grocer came, and started 
their different shops. Then a school was built, 
and by that time there were more people and 
more houses in the growing town. The river 
brought ship builders and manufacturers. A church 
was built, and an iron foundry, and a railroad 
station. The town was busy all day, and wheel- 
wrights, blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, drug- 
gists, bakers, dressmakers, and a doctor, a lawyer, 
and a host of other public helpers arrived and 
went to work, too. 

There were a thousand people where once there 
had been only one family. The town needed side- 
walks that would be alike, and street lamps, and 
sewers, and a fire department, and some police- 
men. So all the people met and decided to call 
your town Hilldale. They asked the state to 
grant them a charter which would give them a 
right to elect town officers, and make town laws, 
and enforce these. When Hilldale grew from a 
thousand to many thousand inhabitants, it was 
given a new charter, and became a city. 

Everyone in your town who owns land or build- 
ings helps to pay for, the comforts that come 



148 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



with a charter. This money is raised by taxes, 
and buys fire engines and schoolbooks and street 
lights and other important things. The town grew 
quite rich at last, and it was decided to spend 
some of this tax money to make Hilldale beauti- 
ful. That was how the park came, and the bridge, 
and the new town hall. A wide street, called a 
boulevard, with a row of trees in the center of 
it was laid out along the river front. There was 
a monument to the brave soldiers and sailors put 
up in the center of the town. The new High School 
with its wide lawn and stone pillars was built. 




ALL THE FAMILY WORKING TO IMPROVE THE BACK YARD 



KEEPING YOUR TOWN BEAUTIFUL 



149 



And the town built a band stand in the square 
in front of the town hall so that you might have 
music on holidays. 

It is a beautiful 
place for a boy or girl 
to live. And there is 
ever so much that you 
and the others can do 
to help in keeping your 
town beautiful. 

Your home is one of 
the older ones and 
faces Main Street, set- 
ting rather far back 
from the street. There 
is a wooden fence in 
front of it, and when 
you stood up on the 
fence not long ago to 
watch the soldiers march by, you broke two or 
three of the pickets. The gate is loose on its 
hinges, too. There is an alley back of your house 
through which the tradesmen and the men who 
collect refuse drive. This alley is littered with 
tin cans and scattered papers. The trees in the 
street in front of your house do not seem to be 
sending out their spring leaves as early as they 
should, and your front yard is untidy with the 




Courtesy, Chicago Commons 
DOING HER BIT TO KEEP HER 
TOWN BEAUTIFUL 



150 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

straw that wrapped the rose bushes all winter, 
and dried leaves that covered the flower beds. 

Here is your chance to surprise Uncle Sam, who 
says that a beautiful town is that one in which 
every family makes its own home beautiful. Get 
out your tool box and your paint pot, and mend 
the pickets in the fence and put new screws into 
the gate hinge. Paint the fences, too. Go out 
into your part of the alley and fill an old box with 
all the scattered rubbish that you find there. The 
garbage man will take it if you leave it by your 
back gate, and it is quite likely that the boy next 
door will clean up his alley way when he sees 
what you have done. 

Bake up the straw and leaves in front of the 
house and tie these up in papers or an old sack 
for burning. Perhaps you can put a fresh coat of 
paint on the window boxes outside of the living 
room, and get rich earth for them in which nastur- 
tiums or pansies will thrive and blossom all sum- 
mer. Eake the gravel walk that leads from the 
gate to the front door, and sweep the sidewalk in 
front of your house every day. 

When you have finished doing this, look care- 
fully at the trunks and the lower branches of the 
trees that line your sidewalk. It may be that 
some kind of grub pest is attacking them and 
eating the leaf buds. You may find small worms 



KEEPING YOUR TOWN BEAUTIFUL 151 

or caterpillars hidden in the bark, which are caus- 
ing all the trouble. Almost every state has a 
forestry department in its capital. This depart- 
ment knows all about tree and garden pests, and 
you can send a caterpillar that was eating your 
tree to your state forester. He will tell you how 
to rid the trees of the pests, or he may send a 
man to look into the matter if the whole town 
is in danger. 

Not many years ago Uncle Sam thought of a 
new holiday that he would like to celebrate, Arbor 
Day, He keeps it through his states, as they 
wish, and according to climate, but wherever Arbor 
Day is kept it is a day when boys and girls can 
do something to make their town beautiful. In 
twelve years, three hundred and fifty million trees 
were planted, Arbor Day, on bare roadsides, in 
school yards, parks, and on barren plains by the 
school children of the United States. Most of 
these were young saplings when they were first 
set out in the earth, and they have grown, inch 
by inch, until they overhang the roads and make 
shade for travelers, and a resting place for the 
birds. 

Any young American can celebrate Arbor Day 
at home in the spring, whether it is a state holi- 
day or not. Plant a vine, a bush, a young nut 
or fruit tree somewhere, and make every day 



152 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 









Courtesy, West Chicago Park Commissioners 
AN ARBOR DAY PROCESSION 

an Arbor Day by taking care of it all the year. 

There is ever so much for boys and girls to 
do beyond their own yards and sidewalks to keep 
the beauty of their town. Have a clean-up day 
at school, and clear away any rubbish from the 
yard and papers from the halls. Don't write 
or cut your initials anywhere. "White stone, and 
paint, and fine brick work on public buildings, 
bridges, or monuments are a public trust and ought 
to be kept as fresh as when they were paid for 
by the town. 

Bill boards are not at all good looking, but 



KEEPING YOUR TOWN BEAUTIFUL 



153 




Courtesy, West Chicago Park Commissioners 
PLANTING A TREE 



they are a great deal more unsightly if you tear 
off the paper bills or deface them with pencil 
marks. There must, of course, be telephone and 
electric light poles in a town, and these are usually 
rather ugly to look at. It would be too bad, though, 
to add to their ugliness by marking or cutting 
them. 

A town that is pleasant to look at, clean, and 
with trees, and green grass, and fine buildings, 
ought to be comfortable to live in as well. 

One town comfort is quiet. Some towns have a 
still alarm for fires, and there are signs that ask 
heavy trucks to pass as softly as they can through 



154 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

hospital streets. Bells and whistles on factories 
sound only at certain times, and the noisiest fac- 
tories are built quite a distance from the dwelling 
houses. 

Oil your roller skates and the bearings of your 
bicycle, pushmobile, cart, or roller coaster so that 
they will not rattle or squeak. You can have 
just as much fun playing a game if you don't 
shout when you are on a hospital street, or near 
a house where some one may be ill. 

These are all helps in an everyday war on town 
ugliness and town nuisances that boys and girls 
can help win. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Name as many beautiful public buildings in your town 
as you can. 

2. How does the work of each of these buildings make 
the town a better place to live in? 

3. Describe and locate any monuments or public statues 
in your town. 

4. If you have a park, tell all that you can about it. 

5. What can you do to improve your home and yard? 

6. "What can you do to keep the public buildings, monu- 
ments, and the park in good condition? 

7. Locate on a map of your town its most beautiful spots 
that public money put there. 

8. Model in plasticine a design for a town fountain, 
a sun dial for a park, or a Greek column. 



CHAPTEB XVII 
BEING BIRD LANDLORDS 

Uncle Sam spends just as much- time out-of-doors 
as he does in his different offices, and he loves 
birds, not only for their beauty and song, but 
because they are such a help on the farm and in 
the gardens. It is due in a large measure to the 
wild birds that we have perfect fruits, and grains, 
and vegetables. They destroy beetles and lice, and 
grubs that are farm pests. 

But the birds need a great deal of protec- 
tion so that they may carry on their work of 
helping to preserve the country's food supply. 
The United States Government knows how to build 
bird houses, how to feed birds, and how to attract 
them so that they will live close to the fields and 
gardens and carry on their useful work. Uncle 
Sam wants all his boys and girls to help him in 
taking care of the birds that are needed more 
now than they ever were before. 

The Government tells us that birds need food 
in the winter. In the summer they are very grate- 
ful for fresh water for bathing and drinking, and 
houses in which they can safely rest. You can 
use an old drain pipe, a pan with stones in it 

155 



156 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

set in the ground, or a cement-lined hole measur- 
ing a foot across for a bird's bath. Bushes that 
bear berries attract birds. A mud hole will give 
the swallows, robins, and phcebes material for 
making the walls of their nests. And bits of soft 
linen cloth, wool, twine, and feathers will help 
a dozen different kinds of birds in their nest 
building. 

Uncle Sam says that it is not necessary to 
build elaborate bird houses. In fact, the wild 
birds, which are most important to the farmer, 
are better satisfied with houses that are like their 
own nests. The woodpecker is one of the busiest 
and most valuable helps to the United States Gov- 
ernment because he protects the trees from being 
destroyed by grubs. A branch of a tree that con- 
tains a real woodpecker hole makes a very good 
bird house. It should be hollowed but, and fitted 
to a fruit or shade tree so that it is partly hidden. 
If it is not possible to find such a branch, a small 
log can be hollowed and have a hole bored in it to 
look like the one the woodpecker made. The top 
of the log should be cut off slanting and have 
a hinged cover fitted on to keep out the moisture. 

Boys and girls who live in the Southern states 
can make bird houses out of gourds. A hole 
must be cut in the side for an entrance and a 
drain hole in the bottom. A piece of wire put 



BEING BIRD LANDLORDS 



157 



l\\ 


ii 


- • .' : E**r I 


kf -J 




V 1 : f'^ 1 


8 y 








r«fcnS>«| Br" " ' Jf if Mr* 


r m 


IL. , ^ r 


;\ . 'Hi 1; - 1 




Jf • ^f 


^j 


flijBifewl 



Courtesy, National Ass'n of Audubon Societies 
'IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO BUILD ELABORATE BIRD HOUSES" 



through the neck of the gourd makes it possible 
to hang it from a branch, underneath the leaves, 
or among the vines on a piazza. A number of 
these gourd bird shelters may be strung on a pole 
and will attract the martins who like to nest in 
colonies. Wrens and bluebirds will nest in the 
ones you hang up singly. Phcebes are very neigh- 
borly little birds and like to nest about buildings. 
You can put up a shelf for them underneath a 
porch or shed, or under the eaves, on which they 



158 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

will build their nests. Such a shelf with a roof 
can be built in the garden. 

Uncle Sam has experimented with building many 
different kinds of bird houses and can tell boys 
and girls just what to do in order to be satis- 
factory bird landlords. A house for a bird such 
as a nuthatch, who digs and bores his shelter, 
should have an entrance hole that is the same 
size as the one he would make, himself, in a 
tree. Wood is a better material to use for a bird 
house than cement, and the entrance hole should 
be slanted from the outside to keep out the rain. 
The nails and screws used in putting the house 
together should be set in very deeply and the 
heads covered with putty. 

The holes for letting air into the bird house 
should be drilled over the door, never below, for 
draughts may kill the young birds. If there is 
danger of rain getting in through the door, a 
hole bored in the floor, where the nest will cover 
it, will give enough drainage. 

It is a good plan to paint your bird houses, 
but choose gray or brown like the bark of the 
tree, or green to match the leaves. Many bird 
houses are built with porches in front, but this 
is a poor plan. It furnishes a place for the 
English sparrows, the tramps of the bird world, 
to gather, so it is better to do away with porches. 



BEING BIRD LANDLORDS 



159 



It is just as important to take care of bird 
shelters, after they are put up, as it is to build 
them properly. Wrens 
will nest in an old tin 
can hung under the 
vines for them, but 
they must have a door 
carefully cut and the 
can should be placed 
in the shade, for the 
metal holds the heat. 
If a bird house is ex- 
posed to strong winds, 
fasten it to a sup- 
port by means of wires 
from the corners of 
the roof, and the 
house should face 
away from the pre- 
vailing winds. 

Every spring, before the birds come back, your 
bird houses should be carefully cleaned. During 
the winter season, cocoons of insects, or the nests 
of bees and squirrels may have been left inside 
and these will keep the birds from nesting there 
again. Uncle Sam tells us that his valuable bird, 
the woodpecker, does not gather nest materials. 
Put a thick layer of sawdust in the bottom of 




Courtesy, Nat'l Ass'n of Audubon Societies 

A BIRD BOARDING HOUSE 

This is a good winter tree shelter 
and feeding- station for insectivorous 
birds. A chickadee is seen on the 
roof of the tree house. 



160 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

the house that you build for any of the wood- 
pecker family to hold the eggs safely. Trees or 
poles that support bird houses need to be sheathed 
with tin- This will keep cats and squirrels away. 

Almost the best part of taking care of Uncle 
Sam's birds is to put up and keep a boarding 
house for them. The house itself may be a cov- 
ered shelf in the orchard or garden, or a little 
shelter made of a wooden box and open at the 
back and front. It is necessary to coax the birds 
to come here and feed at first by putting bits of 
suet, seeds, bread crumbs or cracked nuts in a 
path leading to their boarding house. They will 
soon learn to eat in it, though. Keep it filled 
with such food as this, and they will find it a 
very great comfort. If it is not possible to build 
one of these feeding places, fasten food for the 
birds to the trunks or branches of trees, or scat- 
ter it in sheltered places on the ground. 

The United States Government wants boys and 
girls to take better care of wild birds than they 
ever did before. The State of Massachusetts tells 
us just what birds are most useful in protecting 
certain trees and plants from their enemies. Look 
over the table and see if you can find the special 
bird that is most needed in your neighborhood. 
Then see what you can do to help him live and 
carry on his good warfare. 



BEING BIRD LANDLORDS 



161 



Gypsy moth and 
browntail moth 



Codling moth 
which is the 
parent of the 
apple worm 



PLANTS INJURED OR 
DESTROYED BY IT 

Fruit, shade or forest 
tree 



Apple trees 



Tent caterpillar Apple and cherry tre< 



BIRDS EATING IT 

Cuckoos, robin, bluebird, 
jay, oriole, vireos and 
many others 

Woodpeckers, chicka- 
dees and others 



Cuckoos, jay, chickadee 
and many others 



Forest tent 
caterpillar 



Webworms 
Army worms 

Cutworms 

Cankerworms 
and other 
caterpillars 

Cabbage worm 
Beet worm 



Colorado potato 
beetle 

Elm-leaf beetle 

May beetles and 
their young, the 
white grub 

Rose beetle 
Cucumber beetle 



Fruit, shade, and forest Cuckoos, warblers, 
trees waxwing, oriole, and 

many others 

Fruit, shade, and forest Cuckoos, jay, chickadee 
trees and many others 



Grass, corn, etc. 

Nearly all crops 

Fruit and other trees 

Cabbages 
Beets 

Potatoes and egg plant 

Elm trees 

Grass and garden plants 

Roses and other plants 



Cucumber and squash 
plants 



Robin, sparrows, blue- 
birds, blackbirds, and 
many others 

Robin, catbird, blue- 
birds, sparrows, and 
many others 

Nearly all birds of 
orchard or woodland 

Song sparrow, chipping 
sparrow, towhee 

Chipping sparrow, Bob- 
white, yellow-billed 
cuckoo, rose-billed 
cuckoo, rose-breasted 
grosbeak 

Bobwhite, yellow-billed 
cuckoo, rose-breasted 
grosbeak 

Cedar waxwing, vireos, 
etc. 

Robin, blackbird, 
thrasher, catbird, 
towhee and others 

Wood thrush, martin 
and others 

Oriole, martin, phoebe, 
nighthawk, etc. 



Weevils 



Click beetles and 
wire worms 



Fruit, clover, grain, 
peas, beans, etc. 



Roots of many garden 
plants 



Eaten by very many 
birds, bluebirds, oriole, 
downy woodpecker, etc. 

Robin, sparrows, oriole, 
phoebe and many 
others 



162 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



INSECT 

Plant lice 



Bark lice 



Scale insects 

Grasshoppers 
and locusts 

Crickets 



PLANTS INJURED OR 
DESTROYED BY IT 

Plant life generally 



Fruit and other trees 



Fruit and other trees 

Grass, grain, and other 
crops 



BIRDS EATING IT 

Warblers, chickadees, 
sparrows, thrushes, and 
others 



chickadees. 



Nuthatches, 
creepers 

Chickadee, grosbeak. 

Practically all birds 



Grass, grain, fruit, etc. Many ground birds 



QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 



1. Of what use are our wild birds in saving the food 
supply of our Nation? 

2. What do birds who stay with you all winter need 
to carry them over the cold weather? 

3. How can you attract wild birds to your garden in 
the summer? 

4. Name several kinds of waste material from your home 
that birds will gather for nest building. 

5. Name the birds that* are found in your locality. 

6. What kind of a bird house does the Government say 
is best for each of these birds? 

7. Ask your grocer or a farmer what are the most valu- 
able crops in your neighborhood. 

8. Study the table at the end of the chapter and find 
out what birds are necessary to help these crops. 

9. Build bird houses at home, or in your manual train- 
ing class, that are suitable for these birds; and set them 
up where they will be most useful. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
IN FOREST ANI* STREAM 

When the American Indian was the only dweller 
in our country he lived in the wide forests of 
the land. It seemed to him that the great pine 
trees, pointing up toward the sky, were his friends. 
He tried to understand the speech of the wild 
birds and the squirrels who lived in them, and 
he cut down very few trees. He liked the wilder- 
ness of the woods. He could hide there and be 
safe. 

Then the American Colonist came, and he had 
quite a different idea about the forests that he 
found in his new home. He began cutting down 
the trees to build log cabins, to burn for fire- 
wood, and to make a place for new roads. Some- 
times in the early days of our United States, a 
whole piece of wood land would be cut clean 
and only a mass of stumps left that was burned 
out to clear the land. 

The United States grew very fast, and there 
was more and more need of logs for making rail- 
road ties, boards for building houses, stores and 
mills. No one thought very much about the many 
years a pine tree had been slowly growing, but 

163 



164 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

only how quickly it could be cut down, and into 
how many boards it could be sawed and planed. 
That was a hard time for the forests, and we 
might, at last, have been a country without trees 
if Uncle Sam had not gone into the woods just 
then to save them. 

He knew how the Indian felt about wanting 
to keep a tree. He knew how the Colonist, and 
all the other Americans after him, had felt about 
cutting a tree down and using it. He knew, too, 
that the Indian and the American settler were 
each right in a certain way. So Uncle Sam took 
over one hundred sixty million acres of trees and 
laid out our national forests and parks. He takes 
care of these just as a farmer takes care of a 
very valuable crop. Only certain trees may be 
cut, and new ones are being set out constantly 
to take the places of those that are cut down. 
Several thousand men help Uncle Sam in looking 
after these National forests. It is their duty to 
patrol them, watching for forest fires, and keep- 
ing the trees free from pests or disease. 

Sometimes the life of one of Uncle Sam's for 
esters is as exciting as any adventure story a 
boy or girl ever read. If you go to the country 
in the summer where there are high wooded hills 
or mountains all around, you may see a tiny speck 
far up on the peak of one. There is no road 




Courtesy, American Museum of Natural History, N. Y. 
SCENE IN A FOREST RESERVE, CALIFORNIA 



166 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

that you can see leading to it. A narrow path 
goes up, but one could easily lose it, and there 
are bears on the way, the farmers tell you. That 
speck on the peak of the mountain is a fire tower: 
A state forester stays in it during the summer, 
shut away from the life of the world, watching 
for forest fires. He has a wireless apparatus to 
call help if he needs it, but it is an even more 
lonely life than that of the light-house keeper. 

When Uncle Sam began to preserve his trees, 
he found that the forest streams and the fish were 
in need of help, too. Fish that were too small 
were being caught. Certain kinds of fish were 
dying out entirely because their streams were 
being used for water power, and they had no 
place to lay their eggs and hatch their young. 
To save our fish, seasons, called closed seasons, 
have been set apart when no fish may be caught 
in certain waters. They must be left quiet, and 
free to breed. Fish hatcheries have been made 
in some states where the eggs are cared for in 
special tanks, and the young fish are raised to 
be sent to the streams or the sea when they 
are old enough. 

This work of the Government in preserving our 
American forests and fish is a very important 
one, indeed. The men who do it have to be almost 
as strong and well as our soldiers. And the work 



168 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

means a great deal to every American boy and 
girl. It gives us the beautiful woods, materials 
for building almost everything from the floors in 
our homes to the wings of an aeroplane, and food 
from the streams. 

It is very strange but the greatest number of 
forest fires start from picnics, automobile parties, 
and camping parties. The forester in his tower 
on the mountain looks abroad over the woods 
and valleys for such fires. They are so easily 
prevented that Uncle Sam's boys and girls ought 
to organize themselves into fire brigades to pre- 
vent forest fires in the summer. Some states 
require you to have a permit before kindling a 
fire in the open air for burning brush or rub- 
bish. This is not necessary if the bonfire is in 
a garden or a ploughed field, or a street that 
is a safe distance from a wood lot or the woods., 
It is never safe, though, to kindle a fire on 
another's property unless you ask the owner of 
the land if you may. A camp fire must be very 
carefully covered before you leave it, and lighted 
matches should never be dropped in the woods. 

Any boy who owns a fine, sharp jack-knife feels 
like using it when he goes out for a hike or on 
a picnic. There are a great many things that 
can be made with bark; baskets, little canoes, and 
picture frames. It is fun, too, to cut one's initials 



IN FOREST AND STREAM 



169 




Courtesy, U. S. Bureau of Forestry 
A FIRE LOOKOUT, SUMMIT OF MT. EDDY, CALIFORNIA 



in a tree trunk. It may happen, though, that the 
piece of bark cut off a tree or the letters that 
you cut in the trunk may hurt that tree so that 
it will die. Keep your jack-knife for whittling 
broken branches and opening nuts in the woods, 
and so help Uncle Sam. 

You will find it very interesting to attend a 
forestry class, right out in the woods, if your state 
has one. Uncle Sam leases a piece of one of his 
finest forests at a low price for such an outdoor 
school, and it is one of the best places to study 
a boy or girl ever knew. The class learns about the 
seeds, roots, leaves, buds, and bark of forest trees. 



170 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 




Courtesy, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Forest Service 
WORK AND FUN IN A FORESTRY CLASS 



The boys and girls collect seeds from pine cones 
and dry them., learn to estimate the amount of 
timber a tree will yield, and draw pictures of the 
forest. Part of the work of such a class in forestry 
is to make collections of woods, and tell the story 
of a tree, as it is done in the picture, from the 
sketch of it to the objects they can make with the 
wood. 

Arbor Day is the great day of the year for 
the trees, and for the children who want to do 
something for their country. Then comes your 



IN FOREST AND STREAM 



171 




Courtesy, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Forest Service 
THE STORY OF A PINE TREE 



chance to make up to the orchards and woods for 
any loss that may have come to them during* the 
year. Set out two young fir or spruce trees to 
take the place of the tall old evergreen that you 
cut down for your Christmas tree. It was only 



172 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

one tree, of course, but it means a whole forest 
gone when you multiply it by all the Christmas 
trees cut in the United States. Shade trees, nut 
trees, fruit trees, and trees in which wild birds 
like to nest can be set out on Arbor Day, and 
will help to keep the beauty and the value of our 
woodland. 

Your vacation fishing may help or hinder the 
work of the Government in preserving fish. Find 
out if there is a state fish hatching station near 
you, when its visiting days are, and go and see 
the wonderful way in which a fish grows and 
breeds. There are some waters near you where 
fishing is not allowed; never can one fish in a 
reservoir that supplies a town with water. Trout, 
oysters, shad, and lobsters all have their seasons 
of rest. The boy and girl fisher can find out when 
these closed seasons end, and not catch any fish until 
the law allows it. 

If everyone in the United States saved one tree, 
and one fish family a year, it would make our 
country much more beautiful and vastly richer 
in timber and food. 



QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. How did the American Indian use the forests? 

2. How did the men who settled our country use them? 



IN FOREST AND STREAM 173 

3. Tell how the United States Government takes care 
of trees. 

4. Your desk, your house, the apple, and the cake of 
maple sugar that you are going to eat for lunch, and your 
rubbers, all came from certain kinds of trees. Name as 
many trees as you can, tell where they grow, and what 
they give you. 

5. What kinds of trees grow near you? "What can you 
do to protect these trees? 

6. Have you a place for fishing near your home? Are 
there any notices posted near it about a closed season that 
you ought to read? 

7. Have you ever seen any similar notices about hunting 
posted in the woods? What did these notices say? 

8. How can you keep Arbor Day? 

9. Make a collection of woods, nuts, leaves and bark, or 
look at the school collection. Try to name these by feeling 
of them blindfolded. 

10. Can you have a tree school near your town this 
summer ? 



CHAPTER XIX 
HOW TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN 

Your home is a very comfortable, pleasant place 
in which to live. Did yon ever stop to think why? 

There is a fine big family there, from father 
down to you, and each one has a part in the work 
and the play of your house. Your father pays 
for your house, your food, your clothes, and every- 
thing else that you need. Your mother keeps the 
house beautiful, has dinner ready for you when 
you come home from school, and makes your clothes. 
So, if your father or mother say that you can't 
play ball on Saturday morning because they need 
your help at home, you do not stop to argue about 
it. They give you their love and a home, and in 
return, you love and obey them. They are your 
first lawmakers, and Uncle Sam says, "obey the 
law. ' ' 

One of the nicest things about your home is your 
room. It is your very own, with shelves for your 
books and games, and a place for tennis rackets, 
balls, dolls' dressmaking, Camp Fire, or Boy 
Scout trophies, and anything else that is yours. 
Your father has a corner of the living room for 
his desk. There he keeps his important papers. 

174 



HOW TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN 175 

Your grandmother has the big sunny room upstairs 
where her knitting, her rocking chair, and her 
plants are. Your father never touches the things 
in your room. You would not think of taking his 
papers out of his desk. No one in the family 
would take any of your grandmother's comforts. 

If Uncle Sam could look into your home he 
would give you a term for this special family 
kindness. He would call it "respecting property 
rights/' 

There is another way in which your family 
keeps safe and happy. You all help each other. 
You carried your father's luncheon down to the 
office the day that he had to do extra work and 
couldn't come home. Your sister made the sand- 
wiches, and packed the luncheon for him. You 
all helped your mother with the housework on Sat- 
urday morning, so that she could go to the park 
for a picnic with you in the afternoon. 

Uncle Sam looks in your door again, smiles, 
and tells you that he has brought you a long 
word this time. It means this working together, 
which he likes so much. "Cooperation," Uncle 
Sam says it is. 

Perhaps you never thought of it but playing a 
game is a little like running a home in the right 
way. There is baseball. You know the rules of 
the game, and you keep them. You don't play 



176 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



ball on private grounds, but in your own field. 
You train together for good teamwork for a 
long while before you play the boys from the 
other school. You must be a baseball nine, not 
an eight, or a seven. 

Look, there is Uncle Sam cheering you from the 
grand-stand as you win, as loudly as any baseball 
fan there ever was. He cheers you for keeping 
the rules of the game, for playing within bounds, 
and for playing together. 

It is odd, but these three rules of the home 
and of games, are the ones that you need to 
remember in school. The school asks you to come 
to your class every day and not be late. It 




Courtesy, Parks and Playgrounds Ass'n, N. Y. 
YOUR TEAMWORK IS NEEDED IN A GAME 



HOW TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN 



177 




Courtesy, Parks and Playgrounds Ass'n, N. T. 
YOU MUST OBEY THE RULES OP THE GAME - 



asks you to study whatever lessons are given you 
as hard as you can. Those are school laws that 
you keep. You are careful not to waste paper, 
pencils, or tear your schoolbooks. You keep the 
school grounds looking well because you are proud 
of them. You try to keep up with your class. 
In this way you are pleasing Uncle Sam in school. 
You are keeping school laws, you are being care- 
ful of school property; and you are cooperating 
with your teacher and schoolmates. 



178 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

School is out now. You are not needed at home. 
You and the other boys or girls have started 
out together for an hour's fun in the street. It 
may be a troop of boys, or it may be a crowd of 
girls, arm in arm, it does not matter which. It 
is more fun to play in a crowd, but how are you 
going to play? 

Some new sod has been placed on the edge of 
the sidewalk by the Park Department and there 
is a sign on it, "Please keep off the Grass.' ' 
Main Street is too busy a street for ball play- 
ing. There is a town ordinance about this. Push- 
ing the passers-by, running over private lawns, 
or interfering with the games of other children 
by taking their playthings would never occur to 
you. And you go on to the playground, or the 
park together, looking out for the lame one, or 
the younger one who is with you, and have a good 
time when you get there for three reasons. 

Your crowd did not break any laws that the 
town has made. You respected the property rights 
of others. You played with your mates instead 
of alone, taking care of them, and all trying to 
help. 

When our American Nation began as a free 
country, Uncle Sam found that he had a very 
large family to look after. It was like a great 
house, every one of the states being a room in 



180 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

it. There had to be certain rules made that 
each member of this American family should keep. 
So Uncle Sam, through the Congress and Senate 
at Washington, enacted a body of general laws 
that the whole country would be better off* and 
safer for keeping. The different states make their 
own laws, too, and so do the cities and towns 
of the United States. And the National laws 
have to be changed from time to time, especially 
in time of war. Uncle Sam says, ''Obey the law." 
The more our country grows and the more riches 
and power it finds, the more property it has. If 
you travel far enough through the United States 
you will see almost everything that is in the fairy 
tale books. We have public buildings of marble 
and gold, with pictures and furnishings as beauti- 
ful as any castle. Our gold, and silver, and silks 
would make a prince or a princess open their eyes. 
Aladdin himself never thought of such great ships, 
wonderful aeroplanes, racing automobiles, and sky- 
scraping buildings as we make. Uncle Sam owns 
forests and parks that a king might dream of. 
We are very generous with whatever the public 
owns. Public libraries, parks, schools, museums, 
playgrounds, baths, hospitals, and homes for the 
poor are paid for by a few people, and are free 
to a great many. Uncle Sam asks the American 
people, though, to take good care of public property. 



HOW TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN 181 

The word united means together. The United 
States is a huge family that keeps together as 
well as it can. You can ride on the same rail- 
road through several states. A good many of the 
states believe in doing the same acts of kindness 
to horses and dogs in the streets. They all honor 
the Stars and Stripes, use the same money, speak 
the same language, vote for the same President 
and honor him, and have their own particular stars 
in Old Glory. 

So Uncle Sam has made us the great United 
States that we are by his plan of cooperation. 

There are three ways, then, by which boys and 
girls can help Uncle Sam very much indeed, at 
home, in a game, at school, or out in the street. 
Somebody who knows more than you, who is older 
and who has had more experience makes a rule. 
It is your father, your teacher, the baseball coach, 
the town alderman, or Uncle Sam. By keeping this 
rule you are living up to Uncle Sam's first require- 
ment for citizenship, which is to obey the law. 

You must remember that your neighbor's home, 
a library book, a public garden, a mail box, or your 
school materials are the property of others, in 
which you share. Respect them; and thus conform 
to Uncle Sam's second requirement for citizenship 
— to respect property rights. 

The third way of helping Uncle Sam is by think- 



182 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

ing of others as well as of yourself. That starts 
at home, when you try to help. It means being 
the best end man that you can if you can't be the 
leader in a game, or in school. It means doing 
whatever you are able to help the policeman, the 
fireman, the street cleaner, the postman, and your 
teacher. Cooperation is Uncle Sam's third require- 
ment. 

Suddenly Uncle Sam has a surprise for the 
boys and girls who are able to keep a law, to 
respect property, and to work and play together 
unselfishly. All children like to think of the 
important persons they will be when they grow 
up ; judges, and teachers, and shop keepers, and 
manufacturers, and artists, and people who write 
books or make newspapers, builders, and soldiers 
and all the rest. You can't be one of these, 
though, to-day. You will have to work and wait 
a good many years first. But Uncle Sam says 
you can be a most important person now, without 
waiting, — a good citizen. 

The boy or girl in an American home who obeys, 
is careful of all that is bought for the home, and 
works with the family for its good and the welfare 
of the community, is just as much an American 
citizen as is Uncle Sam's soldier who fights to 
protect our homes, our people, and our property. 
You, and the soldiers, and all the other good citizens 



HOW TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN 183 

in between who plow, and build, and keep house 
well, and take good care of money, and of food 
are Uncle Sam's proud family. You make our 
American democracy. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. What special rules do your father and mother ask 
you to keep in your home? 

2. How does your keeping each of these make your 
home a better one? 

3. Can you think of some object in each one of the 
rooms of your house of which you ought to be especially 
careful? Why? 

4. Tell what each member of your family does to help 
in the work of the home? 

5. What home rules are school rules, too ? 

6. What is your favorite game ? Tell what would hap- 
pen in this game if you did not keep the rules, if you went 
outside of bounds, or did not play your part in it. 

7. Ask your teacher or your father to tell you what your 
town laws are in relation to traffic, the care of public 
property, private property, public entertainments — such as 
motion pictures, playing in the streets, truancy, and health. 
Which of these laws can you keep ? 

8. Being a good citizen means doing three things at 
home, at school, in a game, and in the street. Can you 
tell what these three rules are? 

9. Make a list of the prominent citizens in your town, 
and write next each name what these men have done or 
are doing for the town. 



CHAPTER XX 
IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 

"I want to be in Uncle Sam's service to-day! I 
don't want to have to wait until I grow up!" you 
say as you stand on the street curbing some day 
and watch a parade of soldiers, drums beating, and 
"Old Glory" flying on ahead. 

Just as this thought comes to you, and you 
stretch up on tiptoe so as to seem a little nearer 
the stature of a soldier, you see something. The 
crowd that watched the parade is a careless, holiday 
crowd. As the people move along they toss papers 
into the street, and litter the sidewalk with fruit 
skins and peanut shells. Out of the crowd steps a 
boy of about your age, dressed in khaki. He picks 
up the scattered rubbish and puts it in one of the 
tin cans that the Street Cleaning Department pro- 
vides at corners for just this purpose. The boy 
does not stop with this service. Some of the chil- 
dren have pushed over the edge of the sidewalk 
and out into the street, standing right in the way 
of the horses. This boy motions them back to their 
places and then he leads the blind man, who stood 
at the corner selling flags, over to the other side 
of the street in safety. 

184 



IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 



185 




'BE PREPARED' 



"A Boy Scout," you say to your friends. 

Yes, that is who the boy in khaki is, and if you 
want to join the junior service for Uncle Sam that 
he represents, be a Boy Scout. 

There are a great many kinds of service that the 
Boy Scouts carry on, but their special motto that 
will fit every boy in the United States just now 



186 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

and be of the greatest value in every community 
is this: 

" Do one good turn every day. ' ' 

These Boy Scout good turns make our cities 
better cities than they would be without them. Boy 
Scouts are planting trees and protecting parks. 
They are killing caterpillars that would destroy 
shrubs, cleaning up unsightly alleys, watching for 
fires, and distributing pamphlets about preventing 
fires. They act as ushers at outdoor meetings and 
at motion picture entertainments for children. They 
look out for the blind, the old, and younger children. 
Sometimes they paint the fire hydrants in a town, 
and help to build better roads in the country. They 
gather old clothes and food for the poor, sell Bed 
Cross seals, and sing around the outdoor Christmas 
tree. There really isn't anything manly, and help- 
ful, and kind that doesn't come under the head of 
a Boy Scout good turn for his neighborhood, and 
when you wear the Scout's khaki and work along- 
side of him you will be almost a soldier for Uncle 
Sam. 

When a boy is twelve years old he can apply to 
the Scout Master of his town's Boy Scout troop for 
membership. The Scout Master will tell him the 
first things to be learned, the Scout law, salute, sign, 
oath, motto, and the meaning of the Scout badge. 
Before even applying for membership, though, a 



IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 187 

boy can learn the motto, "Be Prepared." And he 
can learn the Scout law that he promises to obey 
when he becomes a Scout. 

THE SCOUT LAW 

1. A Scout Is Trustworthy 

A Scout's honor is to be trusted. If he were to 
violate his honor by telling a lie, or by cheating, 
or by not doing exactly a given task, when trusted 
on his honor, he may be directed to hand over his 
badge. 

2. A Scout Is Loyal 

He is loyal to all to whom loyalty is due : his Scout 
leader, his home, and parents and country. 

3. A Scout Is Helpful 

He must be prepared at any time to save life, 
help injured persons, and share the home duties. 
He must do at least one good turn to somebody 
every day. 

4. A Scout Is Friendly 

He is a friend to all and a brother to every other 
Scout. 

5. A Scout Is Courteous 

He is polite to all, especially to women, children, 
old people, and the weak and helpless. He must 
not take pay for being 'helpful or courteous. 

6. A Scout Is Kind 

He is a friend to animals. He will not kill nor 



188 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

hurt any living creature needlessly, but will strive 
to save and protect all harmless life. 

7. A Scout Is Obedient 

He obeys bis parents, Scout Master, patrol leader, 
and all other duly constituted authorities. 

8. A Scout Is Cheerful 

He smiles whenever he can. His obedience to 
orders is prompt and cheery. He never shirks nor 
grumbles at hardships. 

9. A Scout Is Thrifty 

He does not wantonly destroy property. He 
works faithfully, wastes nothing, and makes the 
best use of his opportunities. He saves his money 
so that he may pay his own way, be generous to 
those in need, and helpful to worthy objects. 

He may work for money hat must not receive tips 
for courtesies or good turns. 

10. A Scout Is Brave 

He has the courage to face danger in spite of 
fear, and to stand up for the right against the 
coaxings of friends, or the jeers or threats of ene- 
mies, and defeat does not down him. 

11. A Scout Is Clean 

He keeps clean in body and thought, and stands 
for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits, and 
travels with a clean crowd. 

12. A Scout Is Reverent 

He is reverent toward God. He is faithful to his 



190 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

religious duties, and respects the convictions of oth- 
ers in matters of custom and religion. 

"What can I do in Uncle Sam's junior service?" 
the Boy Scout's girl schoolmate asks? 

Why, the Camp Fire Girls are waiting to welcome 
every girl who is over twelve years old, and wants 
to put their watchword, Wohelo, into practice. It 
means, Work, Health, and Love, and is a home and 
neighborhood watchword. 

As a Camp Fire Girl you can win honors by 
doing plain, everyday things that you never knew 
before were so important. Taking the entire care 
of a room for one week, or tending a baby an hour 
a day for one month win Camp Fire honors. So 
will cooking three common vegetables, in three dif- 
ferent ways, or trimming a hat, or tramping ten 
miles a day, or rowing one hundred yards. 

The Camp Fire girl keeps well, and walks thirty- 
five miles a week if she can. She saves food in 
the kitchen and saves the money, too, that other 
girls spend for candy and chewing gum, and sodas. 
She raises vegetables for her family, goes on hikes, 
and camps out in the summer. She learns to sing 
"The Star Spangled Banner" and "America." 

Any girl over twelve years of age may join a 
Camp Fire and become a Camp Fire Girl. Local 
Camp Fires have not less than six and not more 
than twenty members, in charge of a woman who 



192 



WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 



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CAMP FIRE GIRL, WEAVING HER SYMBOL, THE DUCK, 
REPRESENTING- THE STRONG SWIMMER 

stands as a leader in her community, and who is 
called "The Guardian of the Fire." As soon as 
the group is formed, the Guardian writes to the 
Camp Fire Headquarters in New York City for 
an application blank. On being appointed, the 
Guardian receives a certificate for herself and a 
charter for the group, and they start out working 
for their honors. In addition to the daily work 
the girls have weekly meetings, and a Council Fire 
once a month for the awarding of honors and con- 
ferring of ranks. 



IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 



193 



Would the boys and girls of your class in school 
like to work together for Uncle Sam? You can do 
this by joining the Junior Eed Cross. Perhaps your 
entire school can enroll as an auxiliary of your 
home town's chapter of the American Eed Cross. 
Through the town chapter you can be part of the 
State Division. 

Your Junior Eed Cross Chapter can help Uncle 
Sam in three ways. 

It can study geography harder than it ever did 




Courtesy, Irving- Park School, Chicago 

HELPING UNCLE SAM IN WAR TIME BY PACKING COMFORT 
KITS FOR HIS SOLDIERS 



194 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

before, learning about foreign nations, boundary 
lines, the quaintness and beauty of the countries 
in Europe, their customs, and dress. Find out, 
too, in what parts of America the Red Cross has 
stood for help in time of need. You will find 
among such places Johnston, where there was a 
great flood, San Francisco during the terrible fire, 
and Halifax at the time of the explosion. 

The next work of your Chapter will be doing 
something for your city or town that the adult 
Chapter to which your teacher or mother belongs 
tells you needs to be done. Your cooking class can 
study wheat substitutes, — bran, whole wheat, corn, 
and Oat meal, and graham flour. With the help of 
the cooking teacher this class can learn how to- 
make victory bread of several kinds, and make this 
bread in their own homes, which is a very patriotic 
way of doing one's bit for Uncle Sam. Perhaps 
the boys and girls of your class can have a booth 
in the town's public market in the summer and sell 
produce from their gardens to swell the school 
Eed Cross fund. Your art class can draw and 
color Junior Red Cross posters to put up in the 
school hall, in the library, or some other prominent 
place in the town. There are many designs that 
you can use on such a poster; flags, Uncle Sam, 
our American eagle, a little girl wearing the Red 
Cross uniform, a Red Cross dog, or an ambulance. 



IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 



195 




Courtesy, Troy, N. Y., Public Schools 
WORKING FOR THE JUNIOR RED CROSS 

The third work of your Junior Red Cross Chapter 
is to do anything that you can for all suffering 
people, and especially for little children. You can 
collect and make over old clothing, and the boys 
who are studying manual training will make boxes 
for packing and shipping these garments. You can 
collect and repair old toys, knit, make scrapbooks 
and puzzles, wind yarn, make comfort pillows, bags 
for hospital use, and make fruit into jellies and 
jams that getting-well soldiers and children who 
have not had enough food need. 

Make, Save, Give. That is your Junior Red Cross 
motto. 



196 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

Any public, private, or parochial school can join 
the Junior Red Cross. Then all the boys and girls 
in the school become members of the American 
Eed Cross. 

First, the school authorities must give their 
consent. 

Second, the school must either collect dues or take 
a pledge that it will earnestly do Eed Cross work. 

Third, the school then makes formal application 
for membership to the local chapter or branch 
school committee, showing that it has collected the 
dues or taken the pledge. 

Then the school becomes a School Auxiliary of 
the Junior Eed Cross and each child in the school 
a member in the American Eed Cross. 

You need not wait until you grow up to be a 
soldier in Unde Sam's service. Here is his junior 
service, waiting for you to enlist, and needing 
every boy and girl in America. Whether you wear 
the khaki of the Boy Scout, the Indian Camp Fire 
dress, or pin a Eed Cross button to your coat, you 
are a soldier of the Union at work behind the lines 
to keep our country good, and safe, and strong. 

QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Is there a Boy Scout Troop or a Camp Fire Girls 
Circle in your town? 

2. Has your school a Junior Red Cross Chapter? 



IN HIS JUNIOR SERVICE 



197 



3. Tell how one may join each of them. 

4. What is the Boy Scout's motto ; the Camp Fire Girls' 
watchword; the motto of the Junior Red Cross? 

5. Can you think of some Boy Scout good turns that 
your town needs? 

6. Here are some new patriotic Camp Fire honors : 
Eat everything edible on your plate ; go to the market, 
do not telephone ; work in a vegetable garden three hours 
a week; do not throw away any bread, or any food made 
of wheat ; throw away no fat ; preserve enough corn, beans, 
peas, tomatoes, or some fruit for your family for the winter. 
Can you win one or more of these honors? 

7. What are the three ways in which the Junior Red 
Cross can help our country? 

8. Make a list of books that you can read in the school 
or public library that will help your work as a Boy Scout, 
a Camp Fire Girl, or a member of a Junior Red Cross 
Chapter. 



CHAPTER XXI 
GETTING READY TO WOKK FOR HIM 

Every boy at some time or other in his life 
wishes that he might wear a uniform and work 
for the Government. The fireman's red helmet, 
the policeman's badge, and the postman's leather 
bag seem as fine and important to you as a base- 
ball bat or a Boy Scout's suit. They are as 
important and as necessary for the country's wel- 
fare as is the soldier's uniform. Uncle Sam has 
a whole army of everyday helpers such as these 
and it is due to their work which goes on so quietly 
that we hardly notice it, that the United States is 
kept such a comfortable place in which to live. 

Any ambitious boy may be proud in looking 
forward to employment by Uncle Sam, but there 
is something about working for the Government 
that has to be considered. One is chosen for 
employment by the United States because of peculiar 
fitness. A man must qualify for the post he fills. 
There is a good deal that a boy or girl can do 
to get ready for Uncle Sam's work, and it would 
be a good plan to begin getting ready to-day. 

Uncle Sam needs workmen, both men and women, 
for every kind of occupation there is, almost. He 

198 



GETTING READY TO WORK FOR HIM 



199 



wants men who can build ships and do such great 
engineering feats as building railroads over moun- 
tains and bridges, and 
across deep cuts and 
waters. He needs sol- 
diers, sailors, clerks, 
accountants, foresters, 
farmers, expert fisher- 
men who can take 
charge of his fish 
hatcheries, cooks for 
the huge Government 
kitchens at Washing- 
ton where foods are 
tested and new recipes 
tried and sent out all 
over the country. He 
needs postmasters, 
doctors, lumbermen, 
carpenters, teachers, 
electricians, messengers, typists, stenographers, 
printers, nurses, bakers, blacksmiths, gardeners, gas 
fitters, lighthouse keepers, men to work in the 
United States Mint, to study the weather, to test 
weights and measures, and to take care of the 
strangers who come from foreign lands to our 
wonderful land of the free. 

There are many thousands of men and women 




Courtesy, Boy Scouts of America 

UNCLE SAM NEEDS AN ARMY OF 
EVERYDAY HELPERS 



200 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

working for Uncle Sam in Washington alone. He 
has other thousands doing his business in a host of 
countries and out of the way places. Every year 
there are thousands and thousands of other men 
and women appointed at good salaries to help 
carry on the Government's ever growing work. 

How does Uncle Sam choose these workers'? 

He believes in a test that you don't like at 
all. Uncle Sam holds examinations for his help- 
ers. The first thing the Government asks the 
young man or young woman who wishes a Govern- 
ment position is, "What did you learn in school?" 
Going to school and passing the school examina- 
tions successfully is what Uncle Sam wants you 
to do to-day that you may be ready to help him 
to-morrow. 

Arithmetic isn't the study that is your choice 
for the day's recitation in school or for home 
work in the evening, perhaps; but Uncle Sam 
has surprises waiting for the boy who becomes 
expert in it, and goes on to other branches of 
mathematics. Because of it he may send you out 
to the wide plains of the West to survey Govern- 
ment lands, he may put you on a ship as captain, 
for guiding a vessel through the waters is a matter 
of understanding charts and figures. He may put 
you in charge of an accounting office at Washington, 
or send you to a foreign country to carry out some 



GETTING READY TO WORK FOR HIM 201 

gigantic engineering scheme. He may put you into 
one of the departments of the United States Treas- 
ury in charge of his gold and silver. 

Physiology and spelling are not your favorite 
studies, either, perhaps, but work hard at them for 
they may lead to your important service for Uncle 
Sam. It takes an army of nurses and doctors to 
keep an army of soldiers and a navy of sailors well. 
Knowing all about bones and muscles, and being 
able to write and spell the longest words there 
are is the beginning of the medical profession. 
Curing some one who is ill or keeping a town or 
camp free from disease is a most important duty 
of the Government. Boys and girls can get ready 
to help in this work in school to-day. 

The pages of your geography become as full of 
adventure as those of the Arabian Nights when 
Uncle Sam turns them for you. Here, in your 
physical geography, is your chance for being sent 
up on the mountain tops by the Government to 
study and send out reports of the weather. It will 
help you to go down into the wonderful caverns of 
iron, copper, gold, and silver mines. It may gain 
you a position testing soils for the farmer or work- 
ing in the great Department of Agriculture in Wash- 
ington. This department collects, tests, and sends 
out seeds, studies new farm tools, and writes 
pamphlets for the farmers all over the United 



202 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

States to help them produce larger and better crops. 

There is hardly any study in school that does 
not have an application to the business of the 
United States Government and which, carefully 
mastered, may not lead to Government work. 

Manual training- is very important, for Uncle Sam 
is building and rebuilding pretty nearly all the 
time. He owns a great many buildings scattered 
all over the country and keeps them in excel- 
lent repair, in addition to improving and enlarging 
them continually. These include post offices, light 
houses, Indian schools, quarantine stations, hos- 
pitals, and houses where government employees live. 

Learning to cook well may take a girl into one 
of Uncle Sam's food stations, for the United States 
is thinking very hard about its pantries. Uncle 
Sam, himself, is going to market to learn how much 
things ought to cost, which foods are better to buy 
because of the nourishment they contain, and how 
they should be cooked. The Government is making 
recipe books that are sent for the cost of the postage 
to those who want them. It is regulating the scales 
used by the grocer, the butcher, and the vegetable 
man, and is even doing a little canning and pre- 
serving on its own account to find out just the best 
way of keeping foods. 

Your school drawing will help you to do Govern- 
ment draughting, perhaps, or help in the patent 



GETTING READY TO WORK FOR HIM 



203 




Copyright, Clinedinst, Washing-ton, D. C. 
PAGES IN THE U. S. SENATE WITH THEIR CAPTAIN 



office. Nature study may lead you into forestry," 
or the great work of keeping our wild fowl, birds, 
and animals safe in the National parks. Knowing 
a foreign language is a splendid thing for boys and 
girls because Uncle Sam is always in need of 
interpreters. 

If you prepare yourself well for your school 
tests and pass them, you will be almost sure to be 
able to pass Uncle Sam's examinations. There are 
several hundred of them, known as civil service 
examinations, and almost any one who has been 



204 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

graduated from the public schools can pass them. 
A boy of fourteen may be appointed as a page, an 
apprentice, or a messenger. When he is eighteen 
he is eligible for a Government position as railway 
clerk, lighthouse keeper, cadet in the revenue serv- 
ice, a surfman, or an assistant in the Weather 
Bureau. 

Like most other great helps to our country, this 
of being one of its employees begins at home. All 
its needs and the means of success are bound up in 
the strap that holds your school books. One other 
big Government position, too, is opeii to the boy 
who does his best in the work of every day, that of 
the presidency. It is quite possible to step from 
your school door, through everyday usefulness, to 
the chair of the President of the United States. 



QUESTIONS AND SOMETHING TO DO 

1. What can boys or girls do in school to get ready to 
work for Uncle Sam, or to earn their own living? 

2. Have you seen any notices of civil service examina- 
tions posted in your town, and can you remember a part, 
at least, of what they said? 

3. What kinds of work does the Government need done ? 

4. In case of war, what workers go with the army to 
help in other ways than fighting? 

5. How might your good school record in the following 
studies make you a help to your country : Arithmetic, 



GETTING READY TO WORK FOR HIM 205 

geography, nature study, physiology, spelling, cooking, car- 
pentry, and drawing? 

6. One may be a help to our country by working in 
many ways. How does each one of these workers make the 
United States greater, and better: The bridge builder, the 
railroad builder and engineer, the road builder, the doctor, 
the farmer, the forester, the steamship captain, the post- 
master, the lighthouse tender, and the nurse? 

7. Collect newspaper or magazine clippings about work 
that the Government is doing, near your town, if possible. 
These may be put in a scrap book with pictures on the 
subject, or may be mounted on cards. 



SOME BOOKS UNCLE SAM HAS PREPARED FOR 
BOYS AND GIRLS 

U. S Government pamphlets may be obtained free, so long as 
the supply lasts, on application to any Senator, Representative or 
Delegate in Congress or to the head of the department issuing the 
publication. 

When this supply has been exhausted, the publications may often 
be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents by payment of 
a small sum (usually from 5 to 15 cents). 

■If teachers and pupils have access to a public library, they may 
use the Government Documents there — and in many cases, the 
libraries have duplicate copies for circulation. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bulletin, 527. Some exercises 
in farm handicraft for rural schools, by H. 0. Samp- 
son. 1917. 

U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 20. Work of School 
children out of school hours. 1917. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 134. Tree 
planting in rural school grounds. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 185. Beautifying the home 
grounds. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 428. Testing seed in home and 
rural schools. Reprint, 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 835. How to detect outbreak of 
insects and save grain crops. 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 861. Removal of stains from 
clothing and other textiles. 1917. 

— Syllabus 28 (Prepared in cooperation with Plant 
Industry Bureau). Illustrated lecture on practical 
improvement of farm grounds, by F. L. Mulford and 
H. M. Conolly. 1917. 

206 



SOME BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 207 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Syllabus 29 (Prepared in 
cooperation with Public Roads and Eural Engineer- 
ing Office). Illustrated lecture on public road 
improvement. 1917. 

How teachers in rural elementary schools may use Farmers' 
Bulletin, 771, Home-made fireless cookers and their 
use, by F. E. Heald. 1917. 

BIRDS 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 609. Bird 
houses and how to build them, by Ned Dearborn. 
1914. Reprinted, 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 493. English Sparrows as pests, 
by Ned Dearborn. Revised, April, 1917. 23 pp. 
illus. Includes lists of Agric. Dept. publications 
relating to birds.) 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 755. Common birds of South- 
eastern U. S. in relation to agriculture, by F. E. L. 
Beal. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 513. Fifty common birds of farm 
and orchard. 1913. (Contains 56 colored pictures 
of common birds and short descriptions telling 
which birds are useful and which are harmful to 
farm crops.) 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 6301 Some common birds useful 
to farmers. 

BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUB WORK 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — States Relations Service, doc. 
27. Organization of boys' agricultural club work in 
Southern states. 1915. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 29. Development of 
boys' club work. 1915. 



208 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers ' Bulletin, 385. Boys ' 
and girls' agricultural clubs. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 26. Farm and home 
handicraft clubs. 1915. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 55. Suggestions for 
boys' and girls' exhibits at local, county, and state 
fairs. 1917. 



FOODS AND FOOD CONSERVATION 

U. S. Food Administration — Ten lessons on food conserva- 
tion. 64 pp. 1917. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Circular, 75. Food needs for 
1918. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 50. Food require- 
ments of the human body. Suggestions to teachers. 
(Includes lists of publications of Agric. Dept. per- 
taining to foods and their preparation.) 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 142. Principles of nutrition and 
nutritive value of foods. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 607. The farm kitchen as a 
workshop. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 807. Bread and bread-making 
in the home. 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletins, 808, 817, 824. How to select 
foods. 

I. "What the body needs (808). 

II. Cereal foods (817). 

III. Foods rich in protein (824). 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 717. Food for young children. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 712. School lunches. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 293. Use of fruit as food. 



SOME BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 209 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers ' Bulletin, 871. Fresh 
fruits and vegetables as conservers of other staple 
foods. 1917. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 332. Nuts and their uses as food. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 751. Peanut oil. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 553. Pop corn for the home. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 298. Food value of corn and corn 
products. 

— Bulletin, 653. Lessons on corn for rural elementary 
schools. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 565. Corn meal as a food and 
ways of using it. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 249. Cereal breakfast foods. 

— Bulletin, 503. Turnips, beets, and other succulent 
roots, and their use as food. 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 295. Potatoes and other root 
crops as food. 

— Bulletin, 468. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other 
starchy roots as food. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 121. Beans, peas, and other 
legumes as food. 

— Farmers 'Bulletin, 363. Uses of milk as food. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 413. Care of milk and its use in 
the home. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 487. Cheese and its economical 
uses in the diet. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 876. Butter making on the farm. 

— Farmers ' Bulletin, 850. How to make cottage cheese. 

— Farmers 'Bulletin, 535. Sugar and its value as food. 

— Farmers 'Bulletin, 516. Production of maple syrup 
and sugar. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 653. Honey and its use in the 
home. 



210 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

GARDENING 

U. S. Education Bureau — School home-gardens circulars. 
11. List of publications for use of school home- 
garden teachers. 

13. Garden projects in seed planting. 

14. Flower growing for school children in the ele- 
mentary grades. 

16. Home gardening for town children. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 408. 
School exercises in plant production. 

U. S. Education Bureau, Bulletin, 40. Gardening in ele- 
mentary schools. 1916. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 195. An- 
nual flowering plants. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 48. Boys' and girls' 
club work. Plant a garden. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 154. Home fruit garden, prepa- 
ration and care. Reprinted, 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 934. Home gardening in the 
South. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 936. The city and suburban 
garden. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 937. The farm garden in the 
North. 

— •Bulletin, 349. The raisin industry. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 198. Strawberries. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 255. Home vegetable gardens. 
47 pp. illus. 1906. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 818. Small vegetable garden. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 61. Asparagus culture. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 431. The peanut. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 254. Cucumbers. 



SOME BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 211 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 488. Dis- 
eases of cabbage and related crops and their control. 
32 pp. illus. 1912. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 232. Okra; its culture and uses. 
16 pp. illus. 1905. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 295. Potatoes and other root 
crops. 45 pp. illus. 1910. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 533. Good seed potatoes and 
how to produce them. 16 pp. illus. 1913. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 324. Sweet potatoes. 

— -Farmers' Bulletin, 548. Storing* and marketing 
sweet potatoes. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 879. Home storage of vegetables. 

— Markets, doc. 6. Distribution and utilization of gar- 
den surplus. 1917. 

MEAT 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bulletin, 469. Fats and their 

economic use in the home. 
University of Illinois. Agric. Exp. Station, Bulletin, 147. 

Market classes and grades of meat. 

— Agric. Exp. Station, Bulletin, 158. Relative econ- 
omy, composition, and nutritive value of various 
cuts of beef. 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Experiment Station Bulletin, 
193. Studies of the effect of different methods of 
cooking upon the thoroughness and ease of digestion 
of meat. 

— Bulletin, 433. Changes in fresh beef during cold 
storage above freezing. 

— Bulletin, 27. Bouillon cubes, their contents and food 
value compared with meat extracts and home made 
preparations of meats. 



212 WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 391. Eco- 
nomical use of meat in the home. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 34. Meats, composition and 
cooking. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 526. Mutton, its value in the 
diet. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 85. Fish as food. 

— Bulletin, 467. Food value and uses of poultry. 29 
pp. illus. 1916. 

POULTRY 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — States Relations Service, doc. 
53. Cooperative work in agriculture and home eco- 
nomics. Boys ' and girls ' club work. Suggestions to 
local leaders in poultry club work. 1917. (Includes 
lists of Animal Industry Bureau publications relat- 
ing to poultry.) 

— Bulletin 464. Lessons on poultry for rural schools. 
1916. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 57. Raising ducks, 
geese, and turkeys. Suggestions for teachers in sec- 
ondary schools. 1917. (Includes list of Farmers' 
Bulletins relating to poultry husbandry.) 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 182. Poultry as food. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 801. Mites and lice on poultry. 
1917. (Includes lists of Agric. Dept. publications 
relating to insects affecting health of man and do- 
mestic animals.) 

— -Farmers' Bulletin, 806. Standard varieties of chick- 
ens — American class. 19 pp. illus. 1917. (Includes 
list of Agric. Dept. publications relating to poultry 
raising and egg production.) 



SOME BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 213 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Bulletin, 561. Feed cost of 
egg production. Results of three years ' experiments 
at Government Poultry Farm. 42 pp. illus. 8 pi. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 61. Boys' and girls' 
club work. Feeding and housing winter layers. 
1917. (Prepared in cooperation with Animal Indus- 
try Bureau. Includes list of Animal Industry 
Bureau publications relating to poultry.) 

— Bulletin, 471. Eggs and their value as food. 30 pp. 
illus. 1917. 

— Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin, 160. The care 
of the farm egg. 

— -Farmers' Bulletin, 656. The community egg circle. 
— -Farmers' Bulletin, 585. Natural and artificial incu- 
bation of hens' eggs. 16 pp. illus. 1915. 

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS— PREPARATION AND 
PRESERVATION 

U. S. Dept of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 375. Care 
of food in the home, by Mrs. Mary Hinman Able. 
Reprint 1917. 
— -Bulletin, 123. Extension course in vegetable foods. 

— Experiment Station Bulletin, 245. Course in use 
and preparation of vegetable foods. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 256. Preparation of vegetables 
for the table. 

— Bulletin, 392. Lessons on tomatoes for rural schools. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 521. Canning tomatoes at home 
and in club work. 36 pp. illus. 1913. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 64. Cooperative ex- 
tension work in agriculture and home economics. 
Partial substitutes for wheat in bread making. 1917. 



214 "WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture — Farmers' Bulletin, 853. Home 
canning of fruits and vegetables as taught to can- 
ning club members in Southern states, by Mary E. 
Cresswell and Ola Powell. 42 pp. illus. 1917. 
(Includes lists of Agric. Dept. publications of inter- 
est in connection with this bulletin.) 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 839. Home canning by one- 
period cold pack method taught to canning club 
members in Northern and Western states, by 0. H. 
Benson. 39 pp. illus. 1917. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 17. Classification of 
fruits and vegetables for club canning by the cold 
pack method. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 18. Home canning 
instructions. 1915. 

— States Relations Service, doc. 33. Some home can- 
ning difficulties and how to avoid them. 1917. 

■ — States Relations Service, doc. 12. Additional recipes, 
tested and determined for use in boys' and girls' 
home canning club work. 1915. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 426. Canning peaches on the 
farm. Reprint, 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 203. Canned fruits, preserves, 
and jellies. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 841. Drying fruits and vege- 
tables in the home. 1917. 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 900. Home made fruit butters, 
1917. (Includes Agric. Dept. publications of inter- 
est in connection with this bulletin.) 

— Farmers' Bulletin, 881. Preservation of vegetables 
by fermentation and salting. 1917. 



INDEX 



Accidents : 

Causes of, 86-88, 137 
How to avoid, 98-100, 141 
Policemen guard against, 138, 
139 

Agriculture, Dept. of, 201 

American Nation : 
Its beginning, 178 

American wealth, 180 

Animals : 

Being kind to, 63-70 
Home for friendless, 67 
Laws relating to, 63-67, 69 

Apples : 

Harvesting, 31-33 

Arbor Day, 78, 151-153, 170-172 

Arbor Day procession, 152 

Arithmetic : 

Advantages in learning, 200 

Bank accounts, boys and girls, 

116 
Bank notes. 112 
Baseball, 175, 176 
Beans, as food, 30 
Beautifying: 

Public lands, 107, 172 

Your classroom, 26 

Your home, 150 

Your streets, 98 

Your town, 146-154 
Beggars, 86 
Bicycle, 117 
Bill boards, 152, 153 
Bird boarding house, 159, 160 
Bird food, 58, 59, 159, 160 
Bird houses, 156-160 

Elaborate ones, not neces- 
sary, 156, 157 

Gourd, 156 

Painting, 158 

Ventilating, 158 

Woodpecker, 156, 160 

"Wrens, 159 
Bird landlords, Being. 155-162 
Birds and wild fowl, Saving 

the, 56-62 
Birds, as insect destroyers, 161, 

16 2 
Bird's Bath, 155, 156 
Birds, danger to, from cats, 60- 

62 
Bird's nests, 56, 57, 156-158 
Birds, shelters for, 59, 60, 159 



Birds, U. S. books about, 207 
Birds, wild, importance to food 

supply, 155 
Blind, School for the, 82 
Blind readers, 127 
Bonfire : 

For fall leaves, 28, 35 

When dangerous, 142, 143, 168 
Books: 

How boys and girls should 
take care of, 104 

How U. S. takes care of, 101, 
102 

Library books, how loaned, 
101, 102, 104 

U. S. prepares for boys and 
girls, 34, 35, 206-214 
Boy Scout, 184, 185, 196: 

Carrying home groceries, 43 

Cleaning alley, 47 

How to become a, 186 

Sewing star on service flag, 
199 
Boy Scout camp, 185 
Boy Scout good turns. 186, 187 
Boy Scout law, 187-188 
Boy Scout motto, 186 
Boys' Club work, 33, 34, 35 

Books about, 34, 207 
Bread : 

Freshly baked, 39 

Victory, 194 

Ways of saving, 40 
Building a town, 146, 147 
Bulletins, Free Government, 206- 
214 

Camp Fire Girl weaving, 192 
Camp Fire Girls, 189-192, 197 

Charter, 192 

Council fire, 189, 192 

Headquarters, 192 

Honors, 190, 197 

How to join, 190 

Symbols, 191, 192 

Watchword, 190 
Candy, Better to make it, 116, 

117 
Canning and preserving, Gov- 
ernment, 202 

Books on, 213, 214 
Canning Club Boys at work, 34 
Canning Clubs, 34 
Car, How to board a, 99, 100 



215 



216 



INDEX 



Cash and Carry shops, 118 
Cats, 60-62 

Charitable society, 86 
Charter, Town, 147 
Christmas : 

As Uncle Sam wants it cele- 
brated, 84, 85 

At the police station, 85 

In the children's ward, 83 
Citizen, How to be a good, 174- 

183 
Civil service examinations, 200, 

203 
Clean up day at school, 152 
Clubs for boys and girls, 33-35 
Coins : 

Designs on our, 41, 42 

Making, 111, 112 
Columbus day, 74, 75 
Comfort kits, packing, 193 
Conservation : 

Food, 30-40, 202 

In forest and stream, 163-173, 
203 

Wild fowl and birds, 56-62 

Wild game, 59-60 
Contagious diseases, 46, 54, 88, 

141, 144 
Cooking, Importance of, 88, 89, 

202 
Cooking room, making good 

record in, 24, 26 
Cooperation, 175, 177, 182 
Copyright, 101, 102 
Corn Clubs, 34 

Declaration of Independence, 16, 

26, 74 
Democracy, American, 183 
Dependent family, Uncle Sam's, 
81-91 
Boys and girls may help, 83- 
86, 90 
Designs on coins, 41, 42 
Diseases : 

Causes of, 88. 144 
Contagious, 46, 54, 88, 141, 144 
Drawing : 

How it will help, 202 
Drinking fountains, 144 
Drinking water, Importance of 
pure, 48, 49 

Education : 

A preparation for Govern- 
ment service, 200-204 
Board of, 20 

What U. S. has done for, 19- 
27 
Election day, 78, 80 
Employment bureaus, 86 
Extravagance, American, 116 

Family working together, 148, 
175, 182 



Fats, Family of, 44 

Fire alarm, Learn to send in, 

100, 142 
Fire department, Boys and girls 

can help, 141, 142 
Fire drill, 142 
Fire engine, 68, 139 
Fire, Guardian of the, 192 
Fire lookout, 169 
Fire, Still alarm for, 153 
Fire tower, 166, 168, 169 
Firemen, 139, 140 
Fires : 

Camp fires, dangerous, 168 

Forest, 164, 166, 168 

Boys and girls may help pre- 
vent, 142, 168 
Fish-cultural station, Pond, 167 
Fish hatcheries, 166, 167, 172 
Fish, Saving the, 166, 167 
Fishing : 

Vacation, 172 

When forbidden, 172 
Flag, The American : 

Army and Navy flags, 135 

Colonial flags, 77 

Date of establishment, 129 

Half-mast, 135 

How to hang, 131 

In Washington's time, 77 

Passing in parade, 131 

Pledge, 136 

Revenue flag, 135 

Rules adopted by Army and 
Navy, 131-135 

Shows growth of Union, 72 

Taking care of it, 129-136 

When displayed, 134 

When flown with other flags, 
132 
Flag Day, 77, 78 
Flies, as disease carriers, 49-52, 

88 
Flytraps, 50-52 
Food: 

Birds as conservers of, 58, 
161, 162 

Families, 44, 45 

Green, in season, 39 

Proper proportion, 45 

Saving, 30-40, 202 

Uncovered, danger from, 51, 
52 

U. S. Bulletins on, 208 

Wasting, 37 

Wild fowl and game, 58, 60 
Foreign language, Advantage 

of. 203 
Forest and Stream, In, 163-173 
Forester, Life of a, 164, 166, 168 
Forest fires, 164. 166, 168 
Forest reserve, Scene in a, 165 
Forestry department, state, 151 
Forestry service, 203 
Forestry, Study of, 169-171 



INDEX 



217 



Forests, National : 

Preserving the, 107, 164 

Boys and girls may help, 
107 
Fourth of July, 16, 73, 74 

Ways of celebrating, 74 
Fruit: 

Birds as conservers of, 161, 
162 

Chemical properties in, 39 
, Insects that destroy, 161, 162 
C Need for conservation, 38, 56 

Preserving, 31-33 

Uses for parings, 33, 40 

U. S. Bulletins on, 213 

Games, 43, 175-179,. 181, 182 
Garbage, 37, 43, 51, 88, 142 
Garden : 

Cultivate a, 89 
Fall work in the, 30, 31 
Harvesting in the, 31 
Planting and cultivating a 
school, 25, 26 
Gardening, U. S. books about, 

210 
Geography, advantages of learn- 
ing, 201 
Gifts: 

In school, 108 

Taking care of Uncle Sam's, 
101-109 
Girl who likes to work in the 

kitchen, 39, 40 
Girls; Camp Fire, See Camp 

Fire Girls 
Girls' Clubs, 34, 35 

U. S. books about, 34, 35, 207. 
Gold coins, 111 
Government employees, How 

chosen, 198 
Government work, 202 
Gum for stamps, 122, 123 

Habit, Forming a, 23 
Harvesting boys and girls can 

do, 28-36 
Health: 

Board of Health, 46, 54 

Junior Boards, 47, 51, 54 
Importance of good, 46 
Keeping well, 46-55 
Protecting, Methods of, 48-55, 

144 
Scouts, 47 

Water supply and, 48, 49 
Holidays, Keeping his, 71-80, 

151-153, 170-172 
Home Cooperation, 175 
Home, Country, the best, 90 
Homemakers, 88-90 
Home that U. S. wants boys 

and girls to plan, 90 
Horse : 

Agent arresting man for beat- 
ing, 64 



Horse (cont.) : 

Laws relating to the, 65 
Should be comfortable, 65 

Hospital wards, children in, 84 

Illness, How prevented, 46-54, 

144 
Insects that injure plants and 

trees, 161, 162 
Inventions, American, 106 

Jack-o'-lantern, 28, 29 

Kindness : 

To animals, 63-70, 77 
To birds and wild fowl, 56-62 
To the poor and unfortunate, 
84-86 
Knife, Jack, proper use for, 168, 
169 

Labor Saving, 43, 75, 76, 118 
Labor, Scarcity of, 56 
Labor Day, 75, 76 
Lawmakers, Your first, 174 
Laws : 

Fish and Game, 59, 69, 166, 172 

National and state, 63, 180 

Relating to Animals, 63-67, 69 

School, 20, 23, 25, 177 
Leaves, Uses for, 35 
Lee's birthday, 78 
Letter, Adventures of a, 123- 
125 

When the adventures begin, 
125 
Letter boxes, 126 

Care of, 126, 127 
Letters, Registered, 126 
Libraries, Traveling, 104 
Library : 

Congressional, 102 

Public, 75, 101 

Boys and girls may have 
good times in, 101, 103 
Library book cards, 104 
Library books, 101, 102, 104 

Boys and girls should take 
care of, 104 
Life saving, 137-145 
Lincoln's Birthday, 78, 79 

Mail, early ways of carrying, 
121 

Mail cars, 123 

Mail clerk, 123, 124; qualifica- 
tions of, 124 

Mail trains, 123 

Mail tubes, 123 

Manual training, 21, 88, 195, 202 

Meat and meat substitutes, 30, 
36, 44 
U. S. Bulletins on, 211, 212 

Medical profession, 201 

Melons, 30 

Memorial Day, 78 



218 



INDEX 



Mineral and acid family, 44 
Mints, U. S.. 110 
Money : 

Coining, 110, 111 

Equivalents for, 115 

Hoarding, 114 

Indian, 114 

Interest on, 116 

Order, 126, 128 

Paper, 112 

Printing, 114 

Saving, 41, 42 

Spending foolishly, 115 
Wisely, 115-117 

Stamping, 112 

Using it in the best way, 110- 
120 
Mosquitoes, danger from, 52-54 
Museum : 

Learn all you can in the pub- 
lic, 105 

Of natural history, 54 

Uncle Sam's at Washington, 
104 

Your town, 106 

National laws, 180 

Nature study, 169, 203 

Neighborliness, 84 

Nuts, as substitutes for meat, 

36, 44 
Nutting, 28, 35, 36 

Old people's home, 82 
Orchard, work in the, 31 
Orphan asylum, 82, 83 
Orphans, 81, 82, 84 

Pages in U. S. Senate, 203, 204 
Paper cups, 144 
Parcel Post, 126, 128 
Parcel Post zones, 128 
Parks, National, 107, 180, 203 
Patents, Government, 106 
Patriots' Day, 78 
Pears, Preserving, 31, 32 
Pig Clubs, 34 

Pig will increase the food sup- 
ply, A, 41 
Plants injured by insects, 161, 

162 
Play: 

Dangerous, 87, 88, 98 
Safe 99 
Playgrounds, 99, 177, 179 
Playing together, 176-179. 182 
Poles, Telephone and electric 

light, 153 
Policeman : 

Christmas party for the poor, 

His, 85 
Duties of, 137-139 
Friend to boys and girls, 137, 

138 
How boys and girls can help, 
141 



Policeman, Junior, 141 

Traffic, 137 
Postage stamps, 122-124 
Postal regulations, 127, 128 
Postal service : 

In Colonial times, 121 

To-day, 122 
Postman's whistle, When Uncle 

Sam blows the, 121-128 
Post Office department, 121-1^8 
Poultry : 

Clubs, 34 

U. S. Bulletins on, 212 
President of U. S., Any boy may 

become, 204 
Proclamation, President's, 74, 76 
Property, Public, Taking care 

of, 180 
Property rights, Respecting, 

174, 175, 178, 180, 181 
Protein foods, 44 

Quail : 

Helpful to farmer, 56, 58 
How to protect, 58-60 
On nest in cornfield, 57 
Straw and frame shelter for, 
59 

Quarantine station, 141 

Quiet zones, 154 

Red Cross, Junior, 193-196 

How to join, 196 

Motto, 195 

School auxiliaries, 196 

Working for, 195 
Registration blank, 128 
Resolution of Congress, 129 
Rights: 

Of individuals, 174, 175 

Property, 174, 175, 178, 180, 181 
Road, Following the, 92-100 
Road drag, 98 
Roads : 

Building, 95 

How they benefit the commu- 
nity, 95, 96 

The first, 94 
Ross, Betsy, 129 

House, 130 
Rules, Who make them, 181 
Rural free delivery, 123 

Saving: 

Different from hoarding, 115 

Life, 137-145 

Wages of delivery boy, 117, 1 18 

Ways of, 37-45, 118 
School: 

And team work, 177 

As preparation for U. S. work, 
200-204 

Auxiliary of Junior Red 
Cross, 196 

Census, 20 

Clean up day at, 152 



INDEX 



219 



School Committee, 20 

Directors, 20 

Districts, 19, 20 

Flag, 26, 132 

Free gift of U. S., 24, 25 

Garden, Planting and culti- 
vating a, 25, 26 

Government, 20 

Helping Uncle Sam at, 23-26 

Daws, 20, 23, 25, 177 

Dunch, 38 

Officers, 20, 25 

Outdoor, 169 

Pageant, 73, 75 

Sanitation, 54, 144 

Supplies, 108 

Taxation, 22 

Tests, 200, 203 

Truants, 25 

Visitors, 20 

Ways to improve your, 26, 
152 
Schoolroom, Uncle Sam in the, 

19 
Seeds, gathering and drying, 29, 

30 
Service, Junior, 184-197 
Sidewalks, cleaning the, 93, 96, 

142, 144, 149, 150 
Snow-cleaning squad, 96, 97 
Snow plow, 92 

Snow storms interrupt busi- 
ness, 92 
Soldiers' or Sailors' Home, 82 
Soldiers, Work to do for, 193, 

195 
Soup, Saving vegetables for, 40 
Spending wisely, one way of 

saving, 42, 43 
Stagecoach, 121 
Stamps, Postage, 122, 123 
Starch family, 44 
State laws, 59, 63, 66, 68, 180 
States, Similar customs of, 181 
Stealing rides, a source of in- 
jury, 87, 88 

Cleaning the, 75, 140, 143. 184 
How boys may aid in clean- 
ing, 93, 96-98, 142, 144, 
184 
Keeping them beautiful, 98 
Keeping them safe, 93, 94, 98, 
99, 140 
Sugar family, 44 

Taxes, 22, 86, 115, 148 
Teamwork, 176 
Teeth, Clean, 53, 54 
Thanksgiving day, 76, 77, 83 
Thrift, 41-45, 114-120 
Thrift stamps, Buying, 113 
Town, The: 

All the family can help im- 
prove, 148, 150 

Boys and girls can help im- 
prove, 149, 150 



Keeping it beautiful, 146-154 
Natural growth of, 146-149 
Trade, Dearning a, 21, 88 
Tramps, 85, 86 
Tree, Story of a, 170, 171 
Trees : 

Colonist's ideas about, 163, 

164 
Indian's regard for, 163, 164 
Injured by insects, 161, 162 
Planting, 151, 153, 171, 172 
Preserving, 151 

The Indian's way, 163 
Uncle Sam's way, 164, 166, 
168 

Uncle Sam : 

Apearance, Personal, 3, 18, 19, 

24 
Army of everyday helpers, 
His, 198, 199 
How chosen, 200 
Army, Peaceful, behind the 

lines, -34 
Blows postman's whistle, 121- 

128 
Books, How he takes care of, 
101-104 
for boys and girls, 34, 35, 
206-214 
Cleans the streets, 93 
Clubs for boys and girls, His, 

33-35 
Commands, His — 
"I want you," 3, 18 
"Obey the law," 174, 180, 

181 
"Respect property rights," 

175, 178, 180, 181 
"Cooperate," 175, 177, 182 
Declaration of Independence, 

His, 16, 26, 74 
Family, His dependent, 81-91 
large, 178 
proud, 183 
Flag, His, 129-136 
Getting ready to work for 

him, 198-205 
Gifts, Taking care of his, 101- 

109 
Goes to school, 19-27 
Headquarters, His, 63 
Helping him, Chapters I-XXI 
Holidays, Keeping his, 71-80, 

151-153, 170-172 
Homemakers, His, 89-90 
Junior service, His, 184-197 
Money, How he coins, 110-111 
When he borrows, 113, 114, 
116 
Preservation in forest and 

stream, 163-173 
Protecting animals, 59-60, 63- 
70 
Birds and wild fowl, 56-62, 

155-162 
Human life, 98-100, 137-145 



220 



INDEX 



Uncle Sam (cont.) : 

Roads, Building, cleaning, and 

improving, 92-100 
Saving he wishes you to do: 
Food, 28-40, 44, 45 
Health, 39, 46-55 
Labor, 43, 75, 76, 118 
Life, 137-145 
Money, 41, 42, 113-120 
Wild fowl and birds, 56-62 
Soldiers, His, 182, 184, 193, 

195, 196, 199 
'Songs, His favorite, 26 
Surprises for him, 24-26, 150 
Thrift stamps, His, 113 
Towns, Improving his, 146- 

154 
Wealth, His, 180 
Who he is, 15-18 
Uniforms, Government, 198 
United States, Meaning of the, 

180, 181 
United States mints, 41, 110 



Vegetables 
As food, 



I, 39, 44, 56 



Vegetables (cont.) : 

Saving tops,' for soup, 40 

Seed, 30, 115 

U. S. Bulletins on preparation 
and preservation, 213 
Veterinary hospital, 68 



Washington, Gen., saying good 

bye to his soldiers, 73 
Washington's birthday, 71, 72 
Thanksgiving proclamation, 
76 
Water, Importance of pure, 48, 

49 
Wealth : 

Articles representing it, 115 
How acquired in your town, 

118 
National. 180 
Wohelo. 190 

Work, Opportunities for in your 
town, 119 
For Uncle Sam, Getting ready 
to, 198-205 
World's dining table, The, 56 



THE following pages contain advertisements of 
other publications of A. Flanagan Company 




Patriotic Books 



AMERICAN HEROES FROM 
HISTORY 
By INEZ N. McFEE 
For Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Grades 
Cloth — 262 pages — Illustrated — 60 cents 
When the "fairy-tale" period has 
passed nothing thrills the school boy or 
girl as do true stories of real heroes. 
"American Heroes from History" de- 
scribes the deeds of those men who 
were instrumental in building our 
great Nation so entertainingly that 
the pupils are taught history and pa- 
triotism while absorbed in the stories 
themselves. 



PATRIOTIC SONGS 

32 large pages — Paper' — 10 cents 

Contains the words and music of 
twenty-three of the best National 
songs of America and the Allied 
countries. There is no better way to 
teach love for one's country than by 
the use of patriotic songs. Printed on 
good paper and well bound. This book 
should be in the hands of every boy 
and girl in the country. 



THE MAN 

WITHOUT A COUNTRY 

By EDWARD EVERETT HALE 

Cloth, 25 cents — Paper, 12 cents — 64 pages 

This book has become an American 
classic — too well known to require 
comment. 

Our edition is an excellent one, with 
introduction and notes, an account of 
how the story came to be written, 
portrait of author, and questions on 
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How many copies shall we send you? 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY-CHICAGO 



Boys and Girls of Colonial Days 



Shows the 

Part Boys and 

Girls of 

Other Days 

Played 

in the Building 

of 

Our Nation 




By 

Carolyn Sherwin 

Bailey 

Author of 

"What To 

Do for 
Uncle Sam" 



"Boys and Girls of Colonial Days" is different from and more 
valuable than other books on Colonial history, in that it presents 
the part boys and girls played in the events and struggles that 
made the United States. 

"The Flag of Their Regiment," "Dick the Youngest Soldier," 
and "The Star Lady" — the story of the making of the first Ameri- 
can flag — are of strong patriotic inspiration. 

Miss Bailey, an author of national reputation, has shown remark- 
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structed stories of strong suspense and marked contrast. 

Many splendid illustrations portray with historical accuracy the 
Colonial period. 

CONTENTS 



The Pink Tulip 
Big Hawk's Decoration 
The Soap Making of Remem- 
ber Biddle 
The Beacon Tree 
The Jack-O'-Lantern Witch 
The Iron Stove 
A Boston Tea Party 



The Deacon's Grasshopper 
Patience Arnold's Sampler 
The Star Lady 
The Flag of Their Regiment 
The Boy Who Had Never Seen 

an Indian 
Dick, the Youngest Soldier 
Betsy's Guest 



Cloth — 160 pages — Illustrated— Price 60 cents 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY — CHICAGO 



Great American Industries 



By 
W. F. Rocheleau 




In Four Volumes 
For Grades 5-8 



This series contains most valuable matter for use in the study 
of industry and commerce which is receiving so much attention in 
our schools today. Only those topics are included that are of 
general interest on account of their relation to our everyday life 
and the development of the nation. 

The books have been cited for reference by authors of 
"Lessons in Community and National Life" now being published 
and circulated by the U. S. Bureau of Education. 

Each book is illustrated with photographs, drawings, maps, 
and charts. 

The Series: 
MINERALS. Illustrated. 212 pages. Cloth. 50 cents. 

Treats Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Iron, Marble, Granite, 
Slate, Gold, Silver, Copper, and Zinc. 

PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL. Illustrated. 194 pages. Cloth. 
50 cents. 

Lumber, Sugar, Cotton, Indian Corn, Wheat, Fruits. 
MANUFACTURES. Illustrated. 222 pages. Cloth. 50 cents. 

The manufacture of Motors, Glass, Shoes, Pins, Needles, 
Pencils, Pens, Paper, and Newspapers. 
TRANSPORTATION. Illustrated. 276 pages. Cloth. 60 cents. 

The history of every branch of the transportation industry from 
the early period up to the present time, with excellent description of 
the modern methods of transportation and communication. Primi- 
tive methods of Travel and Transportation, Roads, Carriages, 
Waterways, Steam, Electric, and Mountain Railroads, Express, 
Carrying the Mails, Parcel Post, and Navigating the Air. 

A.FLANAGAN COMPANY— CHICAGO 



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